Flora Medica

TYPHONIUM.the fertile ones. Anthers distinct, 2-celled ; cells on each sideopening by a complete cleft. Ovaries free, with one erect ovulein each attached to the base of the cell. Stigmas sessile, obtuse.Berries 1 -seeded.1283. T. trilobatum Blume Rumphiai. 132. Arum trilobatumLinn. sp. pi. 1369. Lam. encycl. iii. 10. A. orixenseRoxb.fl. ind. iii. 504. Bot. Rep. t. 356'. Bot. Reg.t. 450.Various parts of the East Indies.Tubers nearly round, the size of a pullet's egg, white, with small inequalities,having many fibres issuing from the apex. Leaves radical,stalked, deeply 3-lobed ;lobes ovate, pointed, a little scolloped, smooth ;about 8 or 10 inches broad, and the same length; round the under side,parallel with the margins and near it runs a double nerve. Petioleserect, round, tapering, striated, about 12 inches long, sheathing, andembracing one another at the base. Scape axillary, very short, justsufficiently long to elevate the spathe above the ground. Spathe shorterthan the petioles, striated, erect ;the inside red ;the outside herbaceous.Spadix, at the base surrounded with ovaries, crowned withmany yellow, branched filaments ;the middle covered with anthers,above which there is no second set of rudimentary processes ; apexscarlet, as long as all the rest of the spadix, erect, tapering, subulate,from a concave broad base, to a point which is neither obtuse norsharp. The tubers when fresh are exceedingly acrid. The natives ofIndia use them in poultices to disperse or bring forward scirrhoustumours. They also apply them externally to the bite of venomoussnakes, at the same time giving inwardly about the size of a field bean.It is certainly a most powerful stimulant, in proper hands. Roxb.DRACONTIUM.Spathe cymbiform. Spadix cylindrical, quite covered with c?1flowers. Perianth 7-9-parted. Stamens 7-9, with oblong,2-celled anthers, opening obliquely by a pore at the apex, anddistinct from their filaments. Ovary 2-3-celled, each cell containing1 pendulous ovule. Berry 1-3-seeded. Seeds withoutalbumen.1284. D. polyphyllum Linn. sp. pi. 1372. Willd. sp. pi.ii. 288. Bot Reg.t. 700. Guayana, Surinam, and elsewherein equinoctial America. (Labaria.)Tuber resembling a small cake, producing 1 or 2 leaves, with longclouded spotted petioles resembling the skin of a snake. Leaves themselvessupra-decompound, pedate, with the segments pinnatifid, distant,and with oblong, acute strongly veined lobes. Spathe large, purple, verydeep-coloured inside, hooded, acute, appearing after the leaves havewithered ; smelling so powerfully upon the first opening, that vomitingand fainting sometimes ensue from the stench. Linnaeus " says olfacienteattonitos redderet et catalepticos." This is one of the remediesused in Guayana against the bite of the Labarri snake, which its spottedleafstalks resemble in colour; no doubt it is a powerful stimulant.Ainslie says the prepared tuber is supposed in India to be antispasmodic,603