Stmplocarpus. 



ARACEjE. 



243 



1. Symplocarpus fcetidus, Salisb. Common Skunk Cabbage. 



Leaves ovate, cordate ; spadix oval, much shorter than the spathe. — Nutt. gen. 1. p. 105 ; 

 Bart. veg. mat. med. t. 10 and 11 ; Torr. fl. 1. p. 181 ; Hook, in hot. mag. t. 3224 ; Beck, 

 hot. p. 382; Darlingt. Ji. Cest. p. 112; Hook. fl. Bor-Am. 2. p. 168; Kunth, enum.Z. 

 p. 84. Dracontium foelidum, Linn. sp. 2. p. 967. Pothos fcetidus, Michx. fl. 2. p. 186; 

 Parsh, fl. 2, p. 398 ; Bot. mag. t. 836. Ictodes fcetida, Bigel. med. hot. t. 24, and fl. Bost. 

 p. 09. 



Rhizoma thick, descending, abruptly terminating in whorls of numerous fleshy fibres. 

 Leaves appearing several weeks after the spathe, and forming large bunches, petiola'.e ; the 

 lamina from 8-18 inches or more in length, with large oblong sheaths. Spathe ovate, 

 convolute, spotted and striped with purplish brown, green and yellow, incurved at the summit, 

 of a thick and fleshy texture. Spadix about an inch long, densely covered with purplish 

 flowers. Leaflets of the perianth cuneate, truncate, fleshy. Stamens a little exserted ; the 

 anthers oblong, with parallel cells. Ovaries immersed in the spadix ; the style straight, 4-sided 

 and tapering to a point. Seed the size of a large pea, purplish and green ; the plumule near 

 the base. 



Low wet grounds : common. Fl. February - March. Fr. September. This plant is 

 universally known for its rank odor, and, as remarked by Dr. Bigelow, " it is exceedingly 

 meritorious of the name it bears." It contains a volatile principle which has not been insulated, 

 besides the acrid matter which is common to many of the Arace^e. The plant is a domestic 

 remedy for asthma and other spasmodic diseases. A second species (S. Kamtschaticus) 

 grows on the Northwest Coast. 



5. ORONTIUM. Linn. ; Nutt. gen. 1. p. 226; Endl. gen. 1706. golden-CLUB. 



[An ancient name, supposed to allude to the river Orontcs.] 



Spathe none. Spadix cylindrical, continuous with the scape, covered with perfect flowers. 

 Sepals 4-6, truncate, concave. Stamens 4 - 6 ; the filaments broad : anthers 2-celled ; 

 the cells opening from the summit obliquely downward. Ovary one-celled, amphitropous, 

 transverse. Fruit an utricle. Seed without albumen ; the embryo large and fleshy. 

 Plumule lying in a groove on the outside of the thick radicle. — An aquatic herb, with 

 entire floating leaves, and the spadix on a long terete peduncle. 



1. Oiiontium aquaticum, Linn. Golden-club. Floating Arum. 



Linn. sp. (ed. 2.) 1. p. 463 ; Amozn. acad. 3. p. 17. t. \. f. 3 ; Michx. fl. 1. p. 194 ; 

 Pursh, fl. I. p. 235 ; Ell. sk. 1. p. 404 ; Bart. fl. Am. Sept. 2. t. 37 ; Hook, exot.fl. t. 19 ; 

 Lodd. bot. cab. t. 402 ; Torr. fl. I. p. 358 ; Beck, bot. p. 381 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 226 ; 

 Kunth, enum. 3. p. 85. 



31* 



