AEUM 



ABUM LILY OBDEB 



AKUM 953 



cylindric oblong or roundish spikes or heads, the male flowers uppermost. 

 Perianth none, or reduced to scales or hairs. Stamens few or many. Fruit 

 dry or fleshy, 1-celled and 1-seeded. 



TYPHA latifolia {Beed Mace, Cat's 

 Tail or Club Bush) is a well-known and 

 attractive native plant found by the banks 

 of lakes, rivers &c., growing in masses. 

 It has blunt linear flattish leaves 3-6 ft. 

 long and 1-2 in. broad, with a soroewhat 

 glaucous hue, and arranged in a distichous 

 or 2-ranked manner. The round flower 

 stems spring up in July and August from 

 the centre of the tufts to a height of 3-7 

 ft., bearing dark purple-brown spikes 6-12 

 in. long, and about 1 in. in diameter, 

 giving the whole a handsome and attrac- 

 tive appearance. In many parts this 

 species is called the Bulrush, a name 

 properly belonging to Scwpus lacustris, 

 see p. 972. 



T. amgusUfoUa is similar to T. lati- 

 foUa, but is smaller in all its parts. The 

 leaves are shorter and narrower, and 

 channelled towards the base, and the 



spikes, which appear in July, are often 

 interrupted. 



OuUtcre dc. as below. 



SPARGANIUM ramosum (the Bur 

 Beed) is another native plant belonging to 

 this order, and inhabits ponds, ditches, 

 river-banks &c. Its erect 3-sided leaves are 

 2-5 ft. long and about 1 in. broad, while 

 the flower stems, with roundish oHve- 

 brown male heads ^| in. through, appear 

 in June and July, and are 1-4 ft. high, 

 the female flowers as large as the males 

 when in fruit. S. simplex is another 

 common species, with yellow flower-heads. 



Culture amd Propagation. — All these 

 plants may be used on the edges of 

 ponds, lakes &o., and are easily increased 

 by division. When grown in masses they 

 give a picturesque appearance to the 

 surroundings. 



CXXV. AROIDEiE— Arum Lily Order 



An order of plants with tuberous rootstocks, large radical usually net-veined 

 leaves, and unisexual or hermaphrodite flowers borne on a spadix, enclosed or 

 protected by a spathe and often very fetid-smelling. Perianth none, or com- 

 posed of 4-8 hypogynous segments. Stamens few or many. Fruit a one- 

 or more celled, and one- or more seeded berry. 



ARUM (Cuckoo Pint; Lords and 

 Ladies). — A genus of erect or dwarf 

 perennials with thick rootstocks and 

 pedate or hastate radical leaves. Flowers 

 imisexual, clustered on the lower part 

 of a club-shaped spadix ; female flowers 

 below and separated from the males by 

 barren or rudimentary ones. Spathe large, 

 convolute. Berry fleshy. 



Culture and Propagation. — The 

 hardy Arums grow in ordinary good 

 garden soil in moist shady or sunny spots, 

 and may be grown in the wilder or 

 rougher parts of the garden. They are 

 very curious and interesting, but some of 

 them, like A. criniium, emit a strong and 

 disagreeable odour when in bloom. They 

 are increased by offsets from the root- 

 stocks after the leaves have withered, 

 which is the best time for disturbing the 

 plants. 



Seeds may also be sown when ripe 



in pots or pans of hght well-drained soil 

 when they have been cleaned from the 

 sticky flesh surroimding them. It takes 

 a long time, however, to raise plants by 

 this means. 



Notwithstanding the unpleasant odour 

 arising from some of these plants when 

 in bloom, they are very ornamental in 

 appearance, the foliage alone being a great 

 attraction. 



A. crinitum {HeUcoddceros crinitus). 

 Dragon's Mouth. — A highly curious and 

 evil-smelling Oorsican plant l-lj ft. high, 

 with pedately lobed leaves, and a cylin- 

 drical drooping hairy spadix of dark 

 purple-brown flowers, enveloped by a 

 large ovate flat brownish spathe, heavily 

 blotched with purple, and hairy inside. 

 The flowers are produced in May and 

 June. 



Culture dc. as above. This species 



