running rootstock (6--18' high), bearing few thread-like slightly
knotted leaves, branching above into a compound spreading panicle,
bearing the flowers in the forks and along one side of the branches;
often with the flowers or in place of them are tufts of leaves; flowers
small (1--11/4'' long), greenish with red; sepals oblong, obtuse, the 3
inner ones longer, but shorter than the oblong taper-beaked, 1-celled
capsule; anthers much longer than the filaments; style slender; seeds
(1/4'' long) obovate, short-pointed.--Sandy, wet or swampy places, Newf.
to Fla., west along the Great Lakes to Minn. The proliferous plants are
usually sterile and much larger, with larger diffuse panicles.--Var.
SUBTILIS, Engelm. Creeping or floating, with a single pair of flowers at
the end of the short stems.--Somerset Co., Maine (_C. E. Smith_);
Canada.
[+][+] _Heads numerous, of 3--12-flowers (rarely more); in early
summer._
[++] _Stamens 6._
19. J. articulatus, L. Stems ascending or erect (9--15' high), tufted
from a short creeping rootstock, with 1 or 2 slender leaves; panicle
short, spreading, the crowded heads 3--8-flowered; flowers brown, rarely
pale (11/4--11/2'' long); sepals lance-oblong, acute or mucronate, or the 3
inner obtuse and a little longer, shorter than the ovate-oblong acute or
abruptly mucronate-pointed incompletely 3-celled commonly deep
chestnut-brown shining capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; ovary
attenuate into a short style; seeds (less than {1/3}'' long) obovate,
attenuate below, abruptly pointed above.--Wet grounds, Newf. to Del.,
west to western N. Y. and Mich. (Eu.)
20. J. alpinus, Villars, var. insignis, Fries. Stems erect (9--18' high)
from a creeping rootstock, with 1 or 2 slender leaves; panicle meagre,
with erect branches bearing distant greenish or light-brown heads, each
of 3--6 flowers (11/4--11/2'' long); sepals oblong, obtuse, the outer
mucronate or cuspidate and usually longer than the rounded inner ones,
as long as or shorter than the obtuse short-pointed incompletely
3-celled light-brown capsule; anthers as long as the filaments; style
short; seeds ({1/3}'' or more in length) spindle-shaped.--Wet sandy
banks, L. Champlain, Cayuga Lake, along the Great Lakes, and far west
and northward. (Eu.)
21. J. militaris, Bigel. Stem stout (2--4 deg. high) from a thick creeping
rootstock, bearing a solitary stout erect leaf (1/2--31/2 deg. long) below the
middle, which overtops the crowded and rather contracted panicle; heads
numerous, 5--12- (rarely 25-) flowered; flowers brownish (11/2'' long);
sepals lanceolate, the outer awl-pointed, as long as the ovate-oblong
triangular taper-beaked 1-celled capsule; anthers longer than the
filaments; ovary attenuate into a slender style; seeds (1/4--{1/3}'' long)
globose-obovate, obtuse, abruptly pointed.--In bogs and streams, Maine
to Md. Sometimes producing, in flowing water, numberless capillary
submersed leaves, 2--3 deg. long, from the rootstock.
[++][++] _Stamens 3._
22. J. acuminatus, Michx. Stems tufted, erect, slender (1--2 deg. long),
bearing about 2 leaves and a very loose spreading panicle; heads rather
few and large, 5--many-flowered, greenish, at length straw-colored or
darker; sepals lance-awl-shaped, sharp-pointed, equal (11/2--2'' long), as
long as the triangular-prismatic short-pointed 1-celled straw-colored or
light brown capsule; anthers a little shorter than the filaments; style
almost none; seeds small ({1/5}--{1/4}'' long), acute at both ends,
ribbed-reticulated.--N. Eng. to Ga., Minn. and Tex. May, June. Very
variable. Heads often proliferous in autumn.
Var. debilis, Engelm. Stems slender (9--18' high); heads green,
3--6-flowered, in a loose panicle; flowers smaller (11/4--11/2'' long);
capsule longer than the sepals.--Wet sandy soil, N. J. to S. C., west to
Ohio, Mo., and Miss. Stem sometimes decumbent and rooting.
Var. robustus, Engelm. Stems stout, tall (2--4 deg. high), bearing numerous
5--8-flowered light-brown heads in a large much-branched panicle;
flowers small (1--1{1/5}'' long); ovoid capsule scarcely longer than the
sepals.--Deep swamps, Ill. to Mo. and La.
[+][+][+] _Heads few, crowded, of numerous flowers._
[++] _Stamens 3; stem rigid from a thick white horizontal rootstock._
23. J. brachycarpus, Engelm. Stem erect (1--21/2 deg. high), bearing about 2
leaves and 2--10 densely flowered spherical heads (4--5'' wide) in a
slightly spreading crowded panicle much exceeding the involucral leaf;
flowers pale green (2'' long); sepals lance-linear, awl-pointed, the 3
outer much longer than the inner, and the ovoid pointed 1-celled capsule
rather shorter; anthers much shorter than the filaments; style very
short; seeds ({1/5}'' long) abruptly apiculate.--Moist places in open
woods and prairies, Ohio and Mich. to Mo., Miss., and Tex.
24. J. scirpoides, Lam. Stem erect (1--3 deg. high), rather slender, bearing
about 2 terete leaves with wide and open sheaths, and a panicle of few
or many densely-flowered pale-green spherical heads, much longer than
the involucral leaf, its branches erect and often elongated; heads
(3--4'' wide) 15--40-flowered; flowers 11/4--11/2'' long; sepals rigid,
awl-shaped and (especially the outer) bristly pointed, at length
pungent, as long as the stamens and nearly equalling the
oblong-triangular taper-pointed 1-celled capsule; anthers very small;
style elongated or very short, seeds ovoid, abruptly pointed at each end
(1/4'' long).--Wet sandy soil, Mass. to N. J. and S. C., west to Ind.,
Mo., and Tex.
Var. echinatus, Engelm. Stouter; leaves terete; branches of the compact
panicle short; heads larger (5--6'' wide), 40--80-flowered; flowers
13/4--2'' long); sepals narrower and more sharply pointed, the outer a
little longer than the inner; stamens shorter and anthers longer than in
the preceding, and seeds rather smaller and more slender.--Md. to Fla.
Var. polycephalus, Engelm. Much stouter; leaves laterally flattened
(3--6'' wide); panicle spreading, branched, bearing many distant heads
as large as in the last; flowers 2--21/2'' long; the 3 outer sepals the
longer; anthers about as long as the filaments; seeds larger ({1/3}''
long).--S. Va. to Fla., west to Mo. and Tex.
[++][++] _Stamens 6._
25. J. nodosus, L. Stem erect (6--15' or 2 deg. high), slender from a
creeping thread-like and tuber-bearing rootstock, mostly with 2 or 3
slender leaves; heads few or several, rarely single, 8--20-flowered
(31/2--4'' wide), overtopped by the involucral leaf; flowers brown
(11/2--2'' long); sepals lance-linear, awl-pointed (the 3 outer mostly a
little shorter), nearly as long as the slender triangular taper-pointed
1-celled capsule; anthers oblong, shorter than the filaments; style very
short; seeds (about 1/4'' long) obovate, abruptly mucronate.--Swamps and
gravelly banks, N. J. and Penn. to N. Ind. and Iowa, and
northward.--July, Aug.--Var. MEGACEPHALUS, Torr. Stem stout (1--3 deg.
high), with thick leaves; heads few and large (6--8'' wide),
30--80-flowered; flowers pale green (21/4--23/4'' long); outer sepals
longest; anthers linear, shorter than the filaments.--Western N. Y. to
Minn. and Mo., and westward.
[*][*] _Seeds caudate._
[+] _Stamens 3._
26. J. Canadensis, J. Gay. Tufted stems erect, terete, smooth, bearing
2--3 leaves; heads few- or many-flowered, paniculate; sepals lanceolate,
the 3 outer shorter than the inner, not much longer than the stamens,
equal to or shorter than the triangular-prismatic almost 1-celled
usually short-pointed capsule; style mostly short; seeds more or less
distinctly tail pointed, delicately many ribbed.--Common almost
everywhere. Aug., Sept. Easily distinguished by its late flowering from
the similar n. 22. Very variable.
Var. longicaudatus, Engelm. Stem stout and rigid (11/2--3 deg. high), bearing
in a decompound somewhat spreading panicle the numerous 5--50-flowered
heads; flowers greenish or light brown (11/2--2'' long); sepals
awl-pointed, mostly shorter than the abruptly short-pointed capsule;
seeds slender ({2/3}--1'' long), conspicuously tail-pointed.--Mass. to
S. C., west to Minn. and La. The most common form.
Var. subcaudatus, Engelm. Stem slender, often decumbent (1--2 deg. high),
bearing in simpler spreading panicles fewer 8--20-flowered heads;
flowers greenish, as large as in the last; sepals awl-shaped, but not so
rigid; capsule mostly tapering; seeds large (1/2--{2/3}'' long), with
short white membranous appendages, not reticulated.--Conn. to Penn. and
Ga.
Var. brachycephalus, Engelm. Stem slender (11/2--21/2 deg. high), bearing
numerous small 3--5-flowered heads in a large spreading panicle; flowers
greenish or light brown (11/4--11/2'' long); sepals mostly obtuse, shorter
than the brown abruptly short-pointed capsule; style longer than in
other forms; seeds smaller (1/4--{1/3}'' long), slender, with rather short
appendages.--Penn. and western N. Y., to Wisc. and Ill.
Var. coarctatus, Engelm. Stem slender, shorter (9--18' high), bearing
fewer deep-brown 3--5-flowered heads in a somewhat erect contracted
panicle; flowers as large as in the last; sepals acute, or rarely
obtusish, much shorter than the prismatic abruptly pointed deep-brown
capsule; seeds as in the last.--N. Eng. to N. J., N. Minn., and
westward.
[+][+] _Stamens 6._
27. J. asper, Engelm. Stems tufted, erect (2--3 deg. high), terete, stout,
rigid, and with the rigid leaves rough; panicle with rigid slightly
spreading branches, bearing scattered few- (2--6-) flowered heads;
flowers greenish with brown (21/2'' long); sepals ovate-lanceolate,
awl-pointed, rigid and strongly nerved, the outer much shorter than the
inner, these a little shorter than the triangular-ovoid beaked
incompletely 3-celled brown capsule, ovary tapering into a conspicuous
style; seeds large, oblong, with white or often reddish appendages (11/4''
long).--Sphagnous swamps, N. J. Aug.
2. LUZULA, DC. WOOD-RUSH.
Capsule 1-celled, 3-seeded, one seed to each parietal
placenta.--Perennials, often hairy, usually in dry ground, with flat and
soft usually hairy leaves, and spiked-crowded or umbelled flowers. (From
_Gramen Luzulae_, or _Luxulae_, dim. of _lux_, light,--a name given to one
of the species from its shining with dew.)
[*] _Pedicels 1-flowered, in a loose compound cyme or umbel._
1. L. vernalis, DC. Plant 6--9' high; leaves lance-linear, hairy; _umbel
mostly simple_; sepals pointed, shorter than the obtuse capsule; seeds
with a curved appendage, (L. pilosa, _Willd_.)--Woods and banks, Newf.
to the mountains of N. C., west to Minn. (Eu.)
2. L. spadicea, DC., var. melanocarpa, Meyer. Nearly smooth (1--3 deg.
high); leaves broadly linear; _corymb decompound, loose; pedicels
drooping_; sepals pointed, straw-color, about the length of the minutely
pointed and brown capsule; seeds not appendaged. (L. parviflora, var.
melanocarpa, _Gray_.)--Mountains of Maine, Vt., and northern N. Y., to
Mich. and N. Minn. (Eu.)
[*][*] _Flowers crowded in spikes or close clusters. (Plants 6--12'
high.)_
3. L. campestris, DC. _Leaves flat, linear; spikes 4--12, somewhat
umbelled_, ovoid, straw-color, some of them long-peduncled, others
nearly sessile; sepals bristle-pointed, longer than the obtuse capsules;
seeds with a conical appendage at base.--Dry fields and woods, common.
May. (Eu.)
4. L. arcuata, Meyer. _Leaves channelled_, linear; _spikes 3--5, on
unequal often recurved peduncles_, ovoid, chestnut-brown; bracts
ciliate-fringed; sepals taper-pointed, longer than the obtuse capsule;
seeds not appendaged.--Alpine summits of the White Mts. and far
northward. (Eu.)
5. L. spicata, Desvaux. _Leaves channelled_, narrowly linear; _flowers
in sessile clusters, forming a nodding interrupted spiked panicle_,
brown; sepals bristle-pointed, scarcely as long as the abruptly
short-pointed capsule; seeds merely with a roundish projection at
base.--With the last, and more common. (Eu.)
ORDER 122. TYPHACEAE. (CAT-TAIL FAMILY.)
_Marsh or aquatic herbs, with nerved and linear sessile leaves, and
monoecious flowers on a spadix or in heads, destitute of proper floral
envelopes._ Ovary 1--2-celled, with as many persistent styles and
(usually elongated) 1-sided stigmas; cells 1-ovuled. Fruit nut-like when
ripe, 1-seeded, rarely 2-seeded. Seed suspended, anatropous; embryo
straight in copious albumen. Root perennial.
1. Typha. Flowers in a cylindrical compact terminal spike, spathe-like
bract deciduous.
2. Sparganium. Flowers in globular heads with foliaceous bracts.
1. TYPHA, Tourn. (CAT-TAIL FLAG.)
Flowers in a long and very dense cylindrical spike terminating the stem;
the upper part consisting of stamens only, inserted directly on the
axis, and intermixed with long hairs; the lower part consisting of
stipitate 1-celled ovaries, the stipes bearing club-shaped bristles,
which form the copious down of the fruit. Nutlets minute, very
long-stalked.--Spathes merely deciduous bracts, or none. Root-stocks
creeping. Leaves long, sheathing the base of the simple jointless stems,
erect, thickish. Flowering in summer. ([Greek: Ty/phe], the old Greek
name.)
1. T. latifolia, L. (COMMON CAT-TAIL.) Stout and tall (4--6 deg. high), the
flat sheathing leaves 3--10'' broad, exceeding the stem; the staminate
and dark brown pistillate parts of the spike (each 3--6' long or more)
_usually contiguous_, the latter at length 1' in diameter; _pistillate
flowers without bractlets; stigma rhombic-lanceolate; pollen-grains in
fours_.--In marshes, throughout N. Am. (Eu.)
2. T. angustifolia, L. Leaves narrower (3--6'' broad), taller, somewhat
convex on the back; pistillate and staminate inflorescence usually
separated by a short interval, the light brown spike becoming 5--6'' in
diameter; _pollen-grains simple; pistillate flowers with a linear stigma
and a hair-like bractlet_ slightly dilated at the summit.--N. Eng. to
N. J., west to Mich. and Mo.; less frequent, and mainly near the coast.
(Eu.)
2. SPARGANIUM, Tourn. BUR-REED.
Flowers collected in separate dense and spherical leafy-bracted heads,
which are scattered along the summit of the stem; the upper sterile,
consisting merely of stamens, with minute scales irregularly interposed;
the lower or fertile larger, consisting of numerous sessile 1--2-celled
pistils, each surrounded by 3--6 scales much like a calyx. Fruit
wedge-shaped or club-shaped, more or less corky toward the summit, the
hard endocarp perforated at the apex.--Rootstocks creeping and
stoloniferous; roots fibrous. Stems simple or branching, sheathed below
by the base of the linear leaves. Flowering through the summer. (Name
from [Greek: spa/rganon], _a fillet_, from the ribbon-like leaves.)
[*] _Fruit sessile, broad and truncate, often 2-seeded; stigmas often 2,
elongated; scales rigid, nearly equalling the fruit; erect, with
branched inflorescence._
1. S. eurycarpum, Engelm. Stems stout, erect (2--4 deg. high); leaves mostly
flat and merely keeled; pistil attenuate into a short style bearing 1 or
2 elongated stigmas; fruit-heads 2--6 or more, 1' wide; fruit
many-angled (31/2--4'' long) when mature, with a broad and depressed or
retuse summit abruptly tipped in the centre.--Borders of ponds, lakes,
and rivers, N. Eng. to Va., west to the Pacific.
[*][*] _Fruit comparatively narrow, and mostly somewhat stipitate,
1-celled, longer than the scales._
2. S. simplex, Huds. _Stems slender, erect_ (1/2--2 deg. high); _leaves more
or less triquetrous_ (21/2--4'' wide); fertile heads (1--4) of the usually
simple inflorescence often above the axils, sessile or peduncled, 6--8''
wide in fruit; stigma linear, equalling the rather slender style or
shorter; nutlets pale, _fusiform_ or narrowly oblong (about 2'' long),
more or less contracted in the middle.--N. Eng. to N. J., west to
Mich., Minn., and northward. (Eu.)
Var. androcladum, Engelm. Stouter (11/2--3 deg. high), with usually _broader
leaves_ (4--9'') and _branching inflorescence_, the head or peduncles
axillary or nearly so; fruiting _heads_ (1--7) often _larger_ (6--12''
broad), the nutlets 2--3'' long. (S. androcladum, _Morong._)--In bogs or
shallow water, common; N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn. and Mo.
Var. angustifolium, Engelm. Very slender; leaves floating, long and
narrow (1/2--21/2'' wide), flat; inflorescence simple; heads (4--6'' broad)
and nutlets smaller.--Mountain lakes and slow streams, N. Y., N. Eng.,
and northward; sometimes nearly out of water, dwarf and with shorter
erect leaves.
Var. fluitans, Engelm. Floating in deep water, with long slender stems
and flat narrow leaves; inflorescence usually short, sparingly branched;
style stout with a short oval stigma; fruiting heads 4--6'' broad;
nutlets dark, as large as in the type. (S. androcladum, var. fluctuans,
_Morong._; not S. fluitans, _Fries._)--Ponds, Penn., W. Conn., White
Mts., N. Minn., and northward.
3. S. minimum, Fries. _Usually floating, with very slender stems and
thin flat narrow leaves_; fertile heads 1 or 2, axillary, sessile or
peduncled (4--5'' wide); stigma oval, about as long as the short style,
scarcely surpassing the oval or obovate denticulate scales; _fruit
oblong-obovate_ (1--2'' long), pointed, somewhat triangular, the stipe
very short or none.--N. Eng. to Penn., N. Ind., Minn., north and
westward.--Stems 3--6' high when growing out of water, much longer when
submerged. (Eu.)
ORDER 123. ARACEAE. (ARUM FAMILY.)
_Plants with acrid or pungent juice, simple or compound often veiny
leaves, and flowers crowded on a spadix, which is usually surrounded by
a spathe._--Floral envelopes none, or of 4--6 sepals. Fruit usually a
berry. Seeds with fleshy albumen, or none, but filled with the large
fleshy embryo. A large family, chiefly tropical. Herbage abounding in
slender rhaphides.--The genuine Araceae have no floral envelopes, and are
almost all monoecious or dioecious; but the genera of the second
section, with more highly developed flowers, are not to be separated.
[*] Spathe surrounding or subtending the spadix; flowers naked, i.e.
without perianth.
1. Arisaema. Flowers monoecious or dioecious, covering only the base of
the spadix.
2. Peltandra. Flowers monoecious, covering the spadix; anthers above,
ovaries below.
3. Calla. Flowers perfect (at least the lower ones), covering the whole
of the short spadix. Spathe open and spreading.
[*][*] Spathe surrounding the spadix in n. 4, none or imperfect in the
rest; flowers with a calyx or perianth and perfect, covering the whole
spadix.
4. Symplocarpus. Spadix globular, in a fleshy shell-shaped spathe.
Stemless.
5. Orontium. Spadix narrow, naked, terminating the terete scape.
6. Acorus. Spadix cylindrical, borne on the side of a leaf-like scape.
1. ARISAEMA, Martius. INDIAN TURNIP. DRAGON ARUM.
Spathe convolute below and mostly arched above. Flowers monoecious or by
abortion dioecious, covering only the base of the spadix, which is
elongated and naked above. Floral envelopes none. Sterile flowers above
the fertile, each of a cluster of almost sessile 2--4-celled anthers,
opening by pores or chinks at the top. Fertile flowers consisting each
of a 1-celled ovary, tipped with a depressed stigma, and containing 5 or
6 orthotropous ovules erect from the base of the cell; in fruit a
1--few-seeded scarlet berry. Embryo in the axis of albumen.--Low
perennial herbs, with a tuberous rootstock or corm, sending up a simple
scape sheathed with the petioles of the simple or compound veiny leaves.
(Name from [Greek: a)ri/s], a kind of _arum_, and [Greek: ai~(ma],
_blood_, from the spotted leaves of some species.)
1. A. triphyllum, Torr. (INDIAN TURNIP.) _Leaves mostly 2, divided into
3 elliptical-ovate pointed leaflets; spadix mostly dioecious,
club-shaped_, obtuse, much shorter than the spathe, which is flattened
and incurved-hooded at the ovate-lanceolate, pointed summit.--Rich
woods, N. Scotia to Fla., west to Minn. and E. Kan. May.--Corm
turnip-shaped, wrinkled, farinaceous, with an intensely acrid juice;
spathe with the petioles and sheaths green, or often variegated with
dark purple and whitish stripes or spots.
2. A. Dracontium, Schott. (GREEN DRAGON. DRAGON-ROOT.) _Leaf usually
solitary, pedately divided_ into 7--11 oblong-lanceolate pointed
leaflets; _spadix often androgynous, tapering to a long and slender
point_ beyond the oblong and convolute pointed greenish spathe.--Low
grounds, N. Eng. to Fla., west to Minn., E. Kan., and Tex. June.--Corms
clustered; petiole 1--2 deg. long, much longer than the peduncle.
2. PELTANDRA, Raf. ARROW ARUM.
Spathe elongated, convolute throughout or with a dilated blade above.
Flowers monoecious, thickly covering the long and tapering spadix
throughout (or only its apex naked). Floral envelopes none. Anthers
sessile, naked, covering all the upper part of the spadix, each of 5 or
6 cells imbedded in the margin of a thick and shield-shaped connective,
opening by a terminal pore. Ovaries at the base of the spadix, each
surrounded by 4--5 staminodia connate into a cup, 1-celled, bearing
1--few amphitropous or nearly orthotropous ovules at the base; stigma
almost sessile. Fruit a leathery or fleshy berry, 1--3-seeded. Seed
obovate, surrounded by a tenacious jelly, the base empty, the upper part
filled with a large and fleshy spherical embryo; no albumen.--Stemless
herbs, with arrow-shaped leaves and simple scapes from a thick-fibrous
or subtuberous root. Fruit in a globose cluster, enclosed by the
persistent fleshy base of the spathe. (Name from [Greek: pe/lte], _a
target_, and [Greek: a)ne/r], for _stamen_, from the shape of the
latter.)
1. P. undulata, Raf. Root of thick tufted fibres; scape 1--11/2 deg. high,
about equalling the leaves; basal lobes of the leaves rather long and
often acutish; spathe convolute throughout, wavy on the margin, mostly
green, 4--7' long; sterile portion of the spadix several times longer
than the pistillate; ovules several; fruit green; seeds 1--3. (P.
Virginica, _Kunth_, and most authors.)--Shallow water, New Eng. to Fla.,
west to Mich. and Ind. June.
2. P. alba, Raf. Rootstock tuberous, covered with thick-fleshy roots and
propagating by offshoots; lobes of the leaves mostly short and broad,
obtuse; spathe 3--4' long, the blade broader, acuminate, somewhat
expanded, white; sterile part of the spadix scarcely longer than the
pistillate; ovules and seeds solitary; berry scarlet, 5--6'' long. (P.
Virginica, _Schott._ Xanthosoma sagittifolia, _Chapm._, not _Schott._
Caladium glaucum, _Ell._ Arum Virginicum, _L._, in part?)--Marshes, S.
Va.(?) and N. C. to Fla.
3. CALLA, L. WATER ARUM.
Spathe open and spreading, ovate (abruptly pointed, the upper surface
white), persistent. Spadix oblong, entirely covered with flowers; the
lower perfect and 6-androus; the upper often of stamens only. Floral
envelopes none. Filaments slender; anthers 2-celled, opening lengthwise.
Ovary 1-celled, with 5--9 erect anatropous ovules; stigma almost
sessile. Berries (red) distinct, few-seeded. Seeds with a conspicuous
rhaphe and an embryo nearly the length of the hard albumen.--A low
perennial herb, growing in cold bogs, with a long creeping rootstock,
bearing heart-shaped long-petioled leaves, and solitary scapes. (An
ancient name, of unknown meaning.)
1. C. palustris, L.--Cold bogs, N. Scotia to N. J., west to Mich. and
Minn., and northward. June.--Seeds surrounded with jelly. (Eu.)
4. SYMPLOCARPUS, Salisb. SKUNK CABBAGE.