“Or peers the Arum from its spotted veil.”
Bryant.
HERE are two species of Arums common to Canada, the larger of which is known as Green-dragon (Arum Dracontium); the other, which forms the central figure in the plate, is the most common to our soil, and is known by the familiar name of Indian Turnip (Arum triphyllum or A. purpureum).
These moisture-loving plants are chiefly to be found in rich black, swampy mould, beneath the shade of trees and rank herbage, near creeks and damp places, in or about the forest.
The sheath that envelops and protects the spadix, or central portion of the plant, is an incurved membraneous hood of a pale green colour, beautifully striped with dark purple or brownish-purple.
The flowers are inconspicuous, hidden by the sheath; they are of two kinds, the sterile and fertile, the former placed above, the latter consisting of four or more stamens and 2 4-celled anthers, the fertile or fruit-bearing flowers of a one-celled ovary. The fruit, when ripe, is bright scarlet, clustered round the lower part of the round fleshy scape. As the berries ripen, the hood or sheath withers and shrivels away to admit the ripening rays of heat and light to the fruit.
The root of the Indian Turnip consists of a round, wrinkled, fleshy corm, somewhat larger than that of the garden crocus; from this rises the simple scape or stem of the plant, which is sheathed with the base of the leaves. These are on long naked stalks, divided into three ovate pointed leaflets, waved at the edges.
The juices of the Indian Turnip are hot, acrid, and of a poisonous quality, but can be rendered useful and harmless by the action of heat; the roots roasted in the fire are no longer poisonous. The Indian herbalists use the Indian Turnip in medicine as a remedy in violent colic, long experience having taught them in what manner to employ this dangerous root.
The Arum belongs to a natural order, most plants of which contain an acrid poison, yet under proper care can be made valuable articles of food. Among these we may mention the roots of Colocosia mucronatum, violaceum, and others, which, under the more familiar names of Eddoes and Yams, are in common use in tropical countries.