A R 
Dcfcription. It was obferved by the elder Linnaeus, that 
the ftruCture of the flower, in this genus, is ftrange, and 
without a parallel; on this account it has been a difpute 
among the moll eminent botanifts, in what clafs it ought 
to be placed. The great author of the fexual fyftem left 
it in the clafs gynandria, becauie, although the ftamens are 
not-placed on the ftyle, yet the receptacle is produced or 
elongated into the form of a ftyle, and bears both piftil and 
ftamens. He obferves at the fame time, that this genus, 
together with fome others nearly allied to it, might have 
been placed in other dalles; but, that he thought it better 
to inlert them in the clafs gynandria, on account of the 
extreme difficulty, if not impoffibility, of affigning a cer¬ 
tain number of ftamens to each piftil. But the younger 
Linnaeus remarks farther, that not only every floret in the 
compound flowers is a feparate flower, but that every flo¬ 
ret in the catkins of Jaururus, piper, and pothos, and every 
anther in the feales of the catkins of zamia, is a diftinct 
floret; and that, when he attends to thefe fads, to the na¬ 
ture of female catkins, and to the Angular fructification of 
pandanus, he underftands the ftrudure of arum : in which 
every piftil and every anther is to be conlidered as a diftind 
floret, and confequently that it ought to be removed to the 
order monandrici ot the clafs monotcia. This idea is adopted 
by Schreber and in Withering’s arrangement. Thunberg 
and Swartz place this genus in the laft order of the clafs poly, 
andria ; thefe we have followed, as fupported by the elder 
Linnreus. The arums are readily diftinguilhed at firft view 
by the large white fpathe, and the long club-fliaped fpa- 
dix within it. This is the receptacle lengthened out. The 
arums are all perennial herbaceous plants, moltly natives 
of hot climates. The roots are fleftiy, hot, and acrid, but 
in many fpecies eatable. They have no proper Item, ex¬ 
cept a few in the laft divifton. The leaves, in the arums 
properly fo called, are entire and fagittate, or ftraped like 
the head of an arrow ; but in the dracuncuii or dragons 
multifid or cloven into feveral parts. 
Species. I. Without ftems, leaves compound, i. Arum 
crinitum, or hairy-fheathed arum : leaves pedate, with the 
lateral l'egments involute; fpathe hairy within; fpadix 
vamentaceous above. The root-leaves of this are cloven 
into feven parts, which are lanceolate and nerved, the mid¬ 
dle one largeft, the others gradually lefts. The flower 
fmells ftrong of carrion, by which flies are enticed to en¬ 
ter, but, when they would retreat, the reverfed hairs pre¬ 
vent them, and they are ftarved there to death. It is a 
native of Minorca; was introduced in 1777 by Mr. Wil¬ 
liam Malcolm, and flowers here in March. 
2. Arum dracunculus, or long-lheathed arum or com¬ 
mon dragon : leaves pedate, leaflets lanceolate quite entire, 
lamina ovate longer than the fpadix. Common dragon 
has a large tuberous flelhy root, which in the fpring puts 
up a ftraight ftalk about three feet high, fpotted like the 
belly of a fnake; at the top it fpreads out into leaves, 
which are cut into feveral narrow fegments almoft to the 
bottom ; at the top of the ftalk the flower is produced, 
which is in fhape like the common arum, having a very 
long fpathe of a dark purple colour, handing ereCt, with 
a large fpadix of the fame colour, fo that, when it is in 
flower, it makes no unpleafing appearance ; but the flower 
has fo ftrong a fcent of carrion, that few perfons can en¬ 
dure it, for which reafon it has been baniftied mod gardens ; 
bur, were it not for this, a few of the plants might merit 
a place for the oddnefs of the flower. It grows naturally 
in mod of the foutliern parts of Europe, and is preferved 
in gardens to fupply the markets. Gerard cultivated it in 
1596. It flowers in June and July. It appears to be li- 
milar in medicinal virtues, as in botanical characters, to 
common arum ; it might be ufed therefore in the fame ca¬ 
fes, but the general.practice employs only the latter. So 
far.as can be judged between fubftances of fuch vehement 
pungency, this is rather the ftrongeft. Common dragon 
is \rur\ed \n Vvenc.h /cgouet ferpentaire, lagretndeferpentaire ; 
in Italian, dracunculo, ferpentaria-, in Spanifii, drogoncillo, 
Serpentina ; in German, drachen.xuu.rtz. 
V 6 l. 1 I. Ho. 69. 
U M. 24« 
3. Arum dracontium, or fliort-ffieathcd arum or green 
dragon: leaves pedate, leaflets lanceolate, qiftv? entire, 
longer than the fpathe, which is Ihorter than the fpadix. 
Green dragon grows about eight or nine inches high. Root 
roundilh, lolid, white within and without, fmooth. It flow¬ 
ers with us in Jurtej grows in moift places in Virginia and 
New' England ; alio in Japan, flowering in April ; .1 d in 
China and Cochin-China. The root of this, as v. < 1 ! as the 
former, is acrimonious and purgative; it is.prefcfibed as a 
very ftrong emmenagogue. It was cultivated in 175 ) by 
Mr. Miller. 
4. Arum venofum, or purple-flowered arum: leaves 
pedate, leaflets fuboval quite entire, lamina lanceolate long¬ 
er than the fpadix.. The native country of this fpecies is 
not known. It flowers itr March, and was introduced ia 
1774 by Mr. William Malcolm. 
5. Arum pentaphyllum, or five-leaved arum: leaves, 
quinate. Five-leaved arum grows to the height of one 
foot. Native of the Ealt Indies and China. The root is 
accounted warm, attenuant, and deobllruent; and is given 
in the epilepfy, convitllions, obftrudtions of the uterus, 
bites of venomous animals, Sc c. in the eaft. 
6. Arum triphyllum, or three-leaved green-ftalked arum : 
leaves ternate, lamina lanceolate acuminate, the length of 
the fpadix. This is fubcaulelcent, with the fcape arifing 
from the petiole. The Brafilian plant lias the fide leaflets 
lobed outwards. The Virginian plant has them'only gib¬ 
bous ; but the ftruSure of the flower is the fame in both. 
Loureiro fays, that the plant of China and Cochin-China 
grows ten inches high. T ire root is round and white. It 
differs from the foregoing in having the leaflets diftindt, 
not pedate ; the bulb of the root f mailer and more globu¬ 
lar; and the medicinal qualities ftronger. It was cultiva¬ 
ted here in 1664, as appears by Mr. Evelyn’s Calendar. 
7. Arum atrorubens, or three-leaved purple-ftalked 
arum: leaves ternate, lamina ovate fho.rter by half than 
the fpadix. Native of Virginia, and cultivated here by 
Mr. Miller in 1758. It flowers in June and July. 
8. Arum ternatum: leaves ternate, receptacle longer 
than the fpathe. Found in Japan by Thunberg, flowering 
in May and June. Loureiro’s plant, deferibed under No. 6, 
is probably the fame with this. 
II. Without ftems, leaves Ample. 9. Arum colocafia, 
or Egyptian arum : leaves peltate ovate repand, femibifid 
at the bafe. Egyptian arum, or colocafia, has a tuberous, 
thick, large, oblong, root, rounded at the bafe. Leaves 
thick, fmooth, alh-coloured, in form and lize refembling 
thofe of the water-lily, having thick ribs running oblique¬ 
ly to the edge. Native of the Levant, Egypt, Sicily, Ita¬ 
ly near Salerno, See. It is efteemed a whoiefome food, 
and is frequently eaten in the eaft, though not very deli¬ 
cate. The roots and petioles are boiled, and the leaves, 
when young, are fometimes eaten raw. It was.cultivated 
in 1690, in the royal garden at Hampton-court. 
10. Arum bicolorum, or two-coloured armn: leaves 
peltate fagittate, coloured on the difk ; fpathe contracted 
in the middle, fubglobular-at the bafe; lamina roundilh, 
acuminate, upright, fome,what convolute. T his is culti¬ 
vated in Madeira; it flowers in June and July. 
11. Arum efculentum, or efculent arum or Indian kale: 
leaves peltate ovate quite entire, emarginate, or femibifid, 
at the bafe. Efculent arum has a large, tuberous, fubo- 
vate, brown, root, with fmalter tubers growing by the (ide 
of it. Sir Hans Sloane fays that it is little bigger than a 
walnut. Plant three feet in.height. Leaves fmooth, bright 
green. The Jamaica plant feems to be fmaller than that 
of the eaft; for Sloane lays, that it only riles a foot from 
the ground. He adds, that they are planted there verv 
carefully in moft plantations ; that the roots are eaten, but 
that their chief ufe is for the leaves, which aVe boiled and 
eaten as coleworts, being extremely pleafmg to the taftc. 
Unlefs different fpecies are confounded under the fame 
name, this nnift be very extenfive, being found both in 
the Eaft and Weft Indies, on the Continents, and in the 
illands. It is very frequent in China and Cochin-China, 
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