AROimas. 



779 



racteristic of the majority of species ; a few however come near to 

 the Bulrushes in habit, but are always distinguished by their succu- 

 lent fruit, and in most cases by the seeds, or at least the ovules, not 



solitary. 



Leaves broad. Spatha large 1. Arum. 



Leaves and spatha long and linear Plant reed-like ..... 2. Acortts. 



I. ARUM. ARUM. 



Spatha large, convolute (the edges rolled over each other) at the base. 

 No perianth. Pistils or female flowers at the base of the spike. Sta- 

 mens or male flowers above them; the club-shaped summit of the axis 

 without flowers. Berry with 1 or very few seeds. 



A genus sometimes limited to a very few species, from Europe and 

 temperate Asia, sometimes extended so as to comprehend a large por- 

 tion of the Aroidecs of the northern hemisphere without the tropics. 



1. Common Arum. Arum maculatum, Linn. (Fig. 936.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1298. Cuckoo-pint. WaJce-rohin. Lords- and- Ladies.) 



Root stock an acrid white tuber. 

 Leaves on long, radical footstalks, ovate- 

 hastate ; the lobes of the base straight 

 or shortly diverging, of a dark, shining 

 green, sometimes spotted with purple 

 or marked with pale whitish veins. Spa- 

 tha 6 to 8 inches long, obliquely cam- 

 panulate, tapering to a point at the top, 

 the convolute part contracted above the 

 base. Spike half concealed in the spatha, 

 the club-shaped yellow or purplish top 

 alone appearing above the convolute 

 part. Berries bright red, in a short 

 spike, on a naked peduncle, the leaves 

 and spatha having died away before 

 they are ripe. 



In woods and thickets, under hedges, 

 etc., chiefly in central Europe, from 

 northern Italy and Spain to southern 

 Scandinavia. Frequent in England and 



Ireland, rare in southern Scotland. FL spring. The white-veined va- 

 riety from the Isle of Wight has been mistaken for the south Euro- 

 pean A. italicum. 



v 9 



Fig. 936. 



