250 
ARTHR0TAX1S 
Arthrotaxis Endl. = Athrotaxis D. Don. 
Artocarpus Forst. Moraceae (n). 40 sp. Ceylon to China and Malay 
Arch. Many sp. show good bud-protection (p. 157) by the stipules. 
A . laciniata Hort. has large drip-tips (p. 143 and art. Ficus). Firs, 
monoecious, the S in pseudo-catkins, the ? in pseudo-heads. A 
multiple fruit is formed, the achenes being surrounded by the fleshy 
perianth and the common receptacle also becoming fleshy. The fruit 
contains much starch &c. and is a valuable food-stuff. Several sp. 
are cultivated all over the Trop., e.g. A. incisa L. (Bread-fruit tree) 
and A. integrifolia L. (Jack tree). The flesh has the texture of 
bread and is roasted before being eaten. The best cultivated forms 
(cf. pear, banana &c.) produce no seeds. 
Arum (Tourn.) Linn. Araceae (vn). 15 sp. Eur., Medit. A. macu - 
latum L. (cuckoo-pint, wake-robin, or lords and ladies) in Brit. It 
is a perennial, tuberous plant with monoecious firs.; ? firs, at base 
of spadix (each of 1 cpl., naked) and S above (each of 2 — 4 sta.), and 
above these again rudimentary d firs, represented by hairs which pro- 
ject outwards and close the mouth of the spathe. The foetid smell 
attracts small flies, which enter the spathe, find the stigmas ripe, and 
are kept prisoners till the pollen is shed ; then the hairs wither and 
escape is possible (cf. Aristolochia). Fruit a berry. The starch of the 
tubers was formerly used as food under the name Portland arrow- 
root, but it is very difficult to get rid of the poisonous juices accompany- 
ing it. Other species are similarly used in Eur. 
Arundinaria Michx. Gramineae (xm). 25 sp. As., Am. Like Bam- 
busa. 
Arundo Tourn. Gramineae (x). 3 sp. trop. and temp. For A. 
Phragmites L. (Brit.) see P. communis. The stems of A. Donax L. 
are used for sticks, fishing-rods &c. 
Asarum (Tourn.) Linn. Aristolochiaceae. 13 sp. N. temp. A. 
etiropaeum L., the asarabacca, is wild in Brit. , but only as an escape 
from cultivation, it having been formerly medicinal. There is a 
rhizome below ground and creeping shoots above; the latter are 
sympodial, each annual joint bearing several scale leaves below, 
then two green leaves and a terminal fir. Fir. regular; P (3), some- 
times with 3 small teeth between the segments (perhaps remnants of 
a former inner whorl); A 12; G(6). The dark-brown, resinously 
scented fir. is visited by flies, and is very protogynous; when the 
stigmas are ripe the sta. are all bent away, but later on they move up 
to the centre and dehisce extrorsely. The perianth lobes are bent in 
at first towards the centre of the fir. and form a sort of prison of it, 
but afterwards gradually straighten themselves. Muller regards the 
fir. as representing a stage in the development of the Aristolochia 
prison. 
Asclepiadaceae. Dicotyledons (Sympet. Contortae). 218 genera with 
over 1300 sp. They are mostly confined to the Tropics (esp. Afr.), 
