CII. ARACEA5. 
475 
A'rum.~\ 
Lakes, ditches, and stagnant waters; abundant in the north. If.. 
7 Leaves very long, linear, pellucid. 
Ord. CII. ARACE2E Juss. 
Flowers monoecious, numerous, collected upon a spadix, 
which is generally enclosed within a 1-leaved spatha; barren 
and fertile ones usually on different parts of the spadix, some- 
times intermingled. Perianth wanting. Stamens usually inde- 
finite. Anthers turned outwards, nearly sessile or on flat 
filaments, usually 2-celled, sometimes 1 -celled, sometimes 4- or 
many-celled two or more being united. — Fertile fi. Ovary 
free, with 1 or rarely more cells, sessile, solitary or aggregate. 
Ovules solitary or several together, erect, horizontal, or pen- 
dulous. Stigma sessile or nearly so. Fruit succulent. Seeds 
pulpy. Embryo in the axis of fleshy or mealy (rarely without) 
albumen, straight, with a cleft on its side for the emission of the 
plumule. Radicle usually at the opposite extremity from the 
hilum, rarely pointing to it. — Leaves sheathing at the base, con- 
volute in (estivation , sometimes compound , often cordate , usually 
with branching veins. — Acrid and poisonous; but if the juice is 
dissipated by heat, or extracted by pressure, the leaves and 
roots become esculent ; and the fecula of the latter is capable 
of being converted into excellent bread. Thus the Colocasia 
esculenta, and its allied species, are abundantly eaten in warm 
countries. 
1. A'rum Linn. Cuckoo-pint. 
Spatha convolute at the base. Spadix with the fertile flowers 
at the base. Stam. (sessile) near the middle of the spadix, 
which is naked above. Ovules 2 — 6 in each carpel , horizontal. 
Stigma sessile, somewhat excentric. Berry with 1 cell and 1 
or few seeds. Embryo at the opposite extremity of the seed 
from the hilum. — Name: apor, in Greek, probably from ar or 
aur, in Hebrew and various old languages, denoting fire; on 
account of the fiery or acrid taste. 
1. A. maciddtum L. ( Cuckoo-pint , Wake-Robin, or Lnrds-and- 
Ladies ) ; leaves all radical cordato-hastate or sagittate, lobes 
acute or obtuse, spadix club-shaped obtuse, shorter than the 
spatha. E. B. t. 1298. A. Italicum Hamb. . 
Groves and hedges, frequent in England ; rare in Scotland and 
Ireland. If. . 4,5. — .The rhizome affords an abundant amylaceous 
substance. Leaves large, shining, often spotted with purple; or 
sometimes, in the Isle of Wight, marked with white veins, when it 
has been mistaken for the A. Italicum Mill., which has the spatha 
large, flat above, and recurved at the end. Mr. Babington, in his 
“Manual” (ed. 4), has described the true A. Italicum, but surely not 
