506 



AROlDE^E 



Ord. LXXXV. Aroide.e.— The CueKoo-PixT Family 



A considerable Order of curious i^lnnts, luany of wfiich much 

 resemble our liritish Lords-and-Ladies (Aniin maciihitum). They 

 abound in tropical countries, and possess acrid and even poison- 

 ous cjualities, which, however, may be dissipated by heat. They 

 mostly have fieshy, underground stems, often large, starchy corms, 

 with their small flowers on a simple fleshy peduncle or spadix, and 



enclosed in one large, sheathing 

 ^pallic. ' The floioers are either 

 perfect or mon«cious ; the 

 perianth aliscnt or represented 

 by 4 — y scales; stamens i — 8; 

 ovary 1^3-chambered, superior; 

 //■/(// beiiTN-like. Some species 

 of Amorplioplidllns, natives of 

 tropical Asia, have enormous 

 corms :• tlie Dumb-Cane of the 

 AA'est Indies {DicffenbdcJiia 

 se'j^ii'nur) is s<; called lr(jm pro- 

 ducing," wlien chewed, a violent 

 and painful swelling of the 

 tongue and uvula : species of 

 Calddiuiii are cultivated for 

 their variegated leaves ; and 

 those of Antlii'irinm for their 

 spathes, which are sometimes 

 a brilliant scarlet, for which 

 reason the name I-lammgo- 

 flower has been applied to them. 

 Zaii/edcsriiia irt/iiopiea, under 

 the name of Trumpetdily or 

 Calla, iS one of the best-known 

 menibeirs of the Order. In 

 South Africa it is known .is the 

 i'ig-lily, pigs feeding on its 

 cornis. An attempt has been 

 made to utilise the starch in these stenSs, but it is mi.ved witli 

 numerous needle-like crystals, 'I'hcsii. rafy'liiJes, as they are called, 

 are also abundant in our Hritish Arniii maculdtiiin, an acridly 

 poisonous plant, the corms of which \vere foniierlv, however, 

 collected in the Isle of Portland for the n.ianufacture of Portland 

 Arrowroot. The Sweet Sedge (.-leoi us Cdlanius), another P)ritish 

 species, has no raphides. This plant m Mden times supplied the 



ArII1\1 MACnLATUM 



(.Ciickou'/'int, irake-Roiin, Lpnis-and- 

 Ladics). 



