NAT. ORDER. 
Aroidece. 
SYMPLOCARPUS AUGUSTISPATHA. NARROW-SPATHED SKUNK-CABBAGE. 
Class III. Triandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. — Stemless and Sub-aquatic. Calyx, four-parted. Seg- 
ments, cucullate. Leaves, ovate, cordate. Spadix, oval, shorter 
than the spatha. Stamens, four. Filaments, subulate. An- 
thers, oblong, with parallel cells. Spadix, pedunculate. Flow- 
ers, tesselately imbricate. Petals, none. Style, four-angled, 
pyramidal. Stigma, minute. Seed, globular, pilumule, near 
the base. 
Spe. Char. Foot, thick, descending, and abruptly terminating in 
numerous fibres. Spadix, an inch long, on a short, thick pe- 
duncle ; ovoid, globose. Leaves, with four-leaved perianth. 
Spathe, cucullate, shell-form. Seed, with a large fleshy globular 
embryo, consisting chiefly of radical, with one or sometimes 
several plumules ; numerous. 
The above plant, a native of North America, retains so close a 
resemblance to the S.foetida, as hardly to allow of any other appel- 
lation than that of a variety, as distinguished from a distinct spe- 
cies. It is, however, opposed in several particulars. The generic 
term Symplocarpus is derived from the Greek symploke, connection, 
and karpos, fruit ; signifying here, united berries. The species has, 
with some moderns, and those not the least enlightened, shared, and 
with equal right, the ominous fame of the Upas, the deadly influence 
of which has for so many ages been the theme or quickening image 
of Eastern fable and the world's song. Its places of growth, which 
Vol. iii. — 84. 
