Lysichiton has flowers which are typical of those of the family to which it belongs (the arum family or Araceae). The individual flowers are small and are tightly packed on a fleshy stem called a spadix which is surrounded by a white or yellow but otherwise leaf-like bract called a spathe. The spathe is hooded or boat-shaped at the top. Lysichiton has flowers with both male and female parts present (bisexual), unlike many other aroids. After fertilization, the green fruits become embedded in the spadix; each fruit usually has two seeds but may have up to four. Several large leaves appear either just before flowering or soon afterwards; each has a short stalk (petiole). Plants die down to a vertical rhizome in winter.[4]
Taxonomy
The genus Lysichiton was described by Heinrich Schott in 1857. The name is derived from two Greek words: λύσις (lysis, dissolve) and χιτῶν (chiton, armour), referring to the armour-like spathe enclosing the inflorescence that withers soon after flowering. Schott used two variants of this name in his original publication: one with a Latinized ending, Lysichitum, and the other with a Greek ending, Lysichiton. In two later publications he used only the second variant. Only one species was assigned to the genus, Lysichiton camtschatcensis. In a paper published in 1932, Eric Hultén and Harold St. John separated American plants into a second species. They decided that Schott's Lysichitum was correct under the rules of botanical nomenclature; accordingly older sources use this spelling as the generic name for both species.[lower-roman 1] In 1956 they revised their view and decided that the correct generic name was the one which was adopted latest by Schott, namely Lysichiton.[5] This is the spelling now used.[6]
Along with other members of the subfamily Orontioideae, Lysichiton has been placed in a group of "proto-aroids", which appear to have evolved before the characteristic features of most aroids emerged. Thus the genus has flowers which retain small petals and which are bisexual, whereas more "advanced" aroids have unisexual flowers without petals.[7]
Species
This genus includes two species and the hybrid between them which occurred in cultivation:
These two species were originally considered conspecific, under the earlier-described name L. camtschatcensis. The most obvious difference between them lies in the spathe, which is yellow with a green-suffused apex in L. americanus and white with at most a small amount of green at the apex in L. camtscatcensis. There are also differences in the leaves. At flowering time these are almost undeveloped in L. camtschatcensis, but about half grown in L. americanus. Lysichiton americanus has broader leaves, rounded at the base, with glossy upper surfaces, whereas L. camtschatcensis has less broad leaves, more pointed at the base, with dull, somewhat grey-green (glaucuous) upper surfaces.[2]
Uses
Both species, but particularly L. americanus, have been used as ornamental garden plants. L. americanus was introduced into cultivation in the United Kingdom in 1901 and has escaped to become naturalized in marshy areas in Britain and Ireland. The hybrid between the two species occurred in cultivation, and is larger than either parent, with a less unpleasant scent.[2]
↑ An additional complication is that Lysichitum should be followed by a specific epithet in the neuter gender, giving Lysichitum americanum and Lysichitum camtschatcense, whereas Lysichiton requires masculine gender, giving Lysichiton americanus and Lysichiton camtschatcensis. Various combinations of generic name and specific epithet are found in the literature.
↑ Thompson, Sue A., Lysichiton, retrieved 2011-11-23, in Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.), Flora of North America, Oxford University Press, retrieved 2011-11-23
↑ St. John, Harold & Hulten, Eric (1956), "A Comment on the Generic Names Lysichiton and Lysichitum", Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 83 (2): 151–153, doi:10.2307/2482924, JSTOR2482924
The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the arum family, members are often colloquially known as aroids. This family of 114 genera and about 3750 known species is most diverse in the New World tropics, although also distributed in the Old World tropics and northern temperate regions.
In botany, a spadix is a type of spike inflorescence having small flowers borne on a fleshy stem. Spadices are typical of the family Araceae, the arums or aroids. The spadix is typically surrounded by a leaf-like curved bract known as a spathe. For example, the "flower" of the well known Anthurium spp. is a typical spadix with a large colorful spathe.
Philodendron is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. As of September 2015, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepted 489 species; other sources accept different numbers. Regardless of number of species, the genus is the second-largest member of the family Araceae, after genus Anthurium. Taxonomically, the genus Philodendron is still poorly known, with many undescribed species. Many are grown as ornamental and indoor plants. The name derives from the Greek words philo- or "love, affection" and dendron or "tree". The generic name, Philodendron, is often used as the English name, "philodendron".
Anthurium, is a genus of about 1000 species of flowering plants, the largest genus of the arum family, Araceae. General common names include anthurium, tailflower, flamingo flower, and laceleaf.
Symplocarpus foetidus, commonly known as skunk cabbage or eastern skunk cabbage, is a low growing plant that grows in wetlands and moist hill slopes of eastern North America. Bruised leaves present a fragrance reminiscent of skunk.
Zantedeschia is a genus of eight species of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to southern Africa from South Africa north to Malawi. The genus has been introduced on all continents except Antarctica. Common names include arum lily for Z. aethiopica and calla and calla lily for Z. elliottiana and Z. rehmannii, although members of the genus are neither true lilies of Liliaceae, true Arums, nor true Callas. The colourful flowers and leaves of both species and cultivars are greatly valued and commonly grown as ornamental plants.
Lysichiton americanus, also called western skunk cabbage (US), yellow skunk cabbage (UK), American skunk-cabbage or swamp lantern, is a plant found in swamps and wet woods, along streams and in other wet areas of the Pacific Northwest, where it is one of the few native species in the arum family. The plant is called skunk cabbage because of the distinctive "skunky" odor that it emits when it blooms. This odor will permeate the area where the plant grows, and can be detected even in old, dried specimens. The distinctive odor attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles. Although similarly named and with a similar smell, the plant is easy to distinguish from the eastern skunk cabbage, another species in the arum family found in eastern North America.
Spathiphyllum wallisii, commonly known as peace lily, white sails, or spathe flower is a very popular indoor house plant of the family Araceae. The genus name means "spathe-leaf", and the specific epithet is named after Gustav Wallis, the German plant collector.
Carlephyton is a genus of three species in the family Araceae, all endemic to Madagascar. The three species in this genus are seasonally dormant tubers. The leaves are cordate with a sub-marginal collective vein. The fine venation is reticulate. There are usually one to three leaves. The petiole sheath is short. Inflorescences are typical aroids with a spathe and spadix. It has no sterile appendix and its flowers, usually one to three, are unisexual. The spathe is not constricted and the lower part is persistent in anthesis. The berries tend to be orange-red. They are known to grow in tropical deciduous forests on limestone or basalt or in rock crevices.
Callopsis is a monotypic genus from the plant family Araceae and has only one species, Callopsis volkensii. This plant forms a creeping rhizome and has cordate-ovate leaves that are medium green and glaborous. The inflorescence is typical of the family Araceae, with a white spathe and yellow spadix. The spadix is shorter than the spathe and its male and female flowers are separated shortly.
Orontium aquaticum, sometimes called golden-club, floating arum, never-wets or tawkin, is a species of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is the single living species in the genus Orontium, which also contains several extinct species described from fossils. O. aquaticum is endemic to the eastern United States and is found growing in ponds, streams, and shallow lakes. It prefers an acidic environment. The leaves are pointed and oval with a water repellent surface. The inflorescence is most notable for having an extremely small almost indistinguishable sheath surrounding the spadix. Very early in the flowering this green sheath withers away leaving only the spadix.
Holochlamys is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. Holochlamys beccarii is the only species in the genus Holochlamys. It is native to New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago and is found growing in mud near lowland streams or rocky streambeds at high elevations.
Lagenandra is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent. The genus is similar to Cryptocoryne, but can be distinguished from it by its involute vernation. Cryptocoryne on the other hand exhibit convolute vernation.
Remusatia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. It contains 4 known species, one of which was described in 1987. This species was initially placed in genus Gonatanthus called Gonatanthus ornatus. After the genus had been sunk into Remusatia its new name was Remusatia ornatus, but it was later changed to Remusatia hookeriana.
Spathicarpa is a genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae, all of which are endemic to South America. Spathicarpa species are notable for the fact that the entirety of their spadix is fused to the spathe. The genus is believed to be closely related to Spathantheum. The tribe Spathicarpeae is named after the genus Spathicarpa.
Synandrospadix is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Araceae. The single species making up the genus is Synandrospadix vermitoxicus. It is found in Peru, Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. The inflorescence has an unpleasant smell with a spathe whose inner surface is purple with brownish-green warts and a smooth green outer surface. The spadix is egg shaped, red, and has spiked male flowers protruding from it.
Anubias afzelii is a species belonging to the Aroid genus Anubias. It was first described scientifically by Heinrich Wilhelm Schott in 1857, based on material collected in Sierra Leone by Adam Afzelius, after whom the species was named. The genus Anubias was described simultaneously, with only A. afzellii belonging to it, which therefore is the type species of the genus. No other species currently placed in the genus Anubias was described earlier and A. afzelii was therefore the first species of this genus known to science.
Lysichiton camtschatcensis, common name Asian skunk-cabbage or white skunk cabbage, is a plant found in swamps and wet woods, along streams and in other wet areas of the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kuril Islands, Sakhalin and northern Japan. The common name "skunk cabbage" is used for the genus Lysichiton, which includes L. americanus, the western skunk cabbage, noted for its unpleasant smell. The Asian skunk cabbage is more variable: plants have been reported in different cases to smell disgusting, not at all, and sweet. In Japanese it is known as mizubashō from a supposed similarity to the Japanese banana, a name with poetic rather than malodorous associations. It is not closely related to the true cabbage.
Anubias pynaertii is a species belonging to the Aroid genus Anubias. It was first described scientifically by Émile Auguste Joseph De Wildeman in 1910, based on material collected in Zaire by, among others, Léon Auguste Edouard Joseph Pynaert, after whom the species was named.
Anubias hastifolia is a species belonging to the Aroid genus Anubias. It was first mentioned by Adolf Engler in 1889 and described scientifically by him in 1893.
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