486 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDKRS. 



Sweet Flag (Acorus Calamus), but extremely sharp in Arum, 

 Indian Turnip, &c. The acrid principle of these plants is volatile, 

 and is dissipated by heat or in drj'ing. When cooked, their farina- 

 ceous corms are eatable. That of Taro of the South Sea Islands, 

 and some other species of Colocasia, are important articles of food. 

 Symplocai'pus foetida exhales a strong odor, very hke that of the 



skunk, whence, as it has large and roundish leaves in a radical clus- 

 ter, it is called Skunk Cabbage. The roots have been used in medi- 

 cine as an antispasmodic. 



932. Ord. LenmaceiS {Duchveed Family), consisting chiefly of 

 Lemna (Duckweed or Water Flax-seed) ; floating plants, with their 

 roots (if any) arising from the bottom of a flat frond, and hanging 

 loose in the water ; their flowers produced from the margin of the 

 frond, bursting through a membranous spathe ; the sterile, of one or 



FIG. 1204. Young leaf, and 1205, spathes and flowers, of Symplocarpus foetiLla. 1206. A 

 separate flower when young. 1207. A detached sepal and stamen seen from within 1208. An 

 anther seen from the front. 1209. The spadix or collective head in fruit ; a quarter-section 

 removed, showing sections of the immersed seeds. 1210 A seed detached, of the natural size. 

 1211, Section of the seed, with its large globular embryo and plumule : in this plant there is 

 no albumen. 



