Orontium

Orontium
Orontium
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Alismatales
Family: Araceae
Subfamily: Orontioideae
Genus: Orontium
L.
Species: O. aquaticum
Binomial name
Orontium aquaticum
L.

Orontium is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the Araceae family. The single species in the genus is Orontium aquaticum. This species is endemic to eastern North America[1] 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. The sheath was originally classified by Adolf Engler as a spathe due it being the last foliar piece before the spadix.[2] He also noted that species lacked a sympodial leaf. However, in a 1988 paper by Thomas Ray, he argued that the structure was misidentified by Engler and was actually a sympodial leaf. According to Ray the spathe was missing and not the sympodial leaf. This interpretation was determined based on observations of morphological charactestics namely the appearance of a two-keeled bracteole and its positioning.[3] Despite this, the floral structure is still commonly identified in the literature as being a spathe.[4][5][6] The flowering occurs in the spring. Native Americans once ate the seeds and rhizome by drying them out and grinding them into a starchy substance.

  • Orontium aquaticum 2 - Buffalo Botanical Gardens.jpg
  • Orontium aquaticum.jpg

Notes

  1. ^ 1. Orontium aquaticum Linnaeus, Flora of North America
  2. ^ A. Engler, (1887). Vergleichende Untersuchungen uber die morphologischen Verhaltnisse der Araceae. II. Theil Ueber Blattstellung und Sprossverhaltnisse der Araceae, Nova Acta der Ksl. Leop.-Carol.-Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher 39: 158-231.
  3. ^ T.S. Ray, (1988). Survey of Shoot Organization in the Araceae, American Journal of Botany, Vol. 75, No. 1
  4. ^ Z. Nie, H. Sun, H. Li, and J. Wen, (2006) Intercontinental biogeography of subfamily Orontioideae (Symplocarpus, Lysichiton, and Orontium) of Araceae in eastern Asia and North America, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 40 (2006) 155–165
  5. ^ L.H. Klotz, (1992). On the biology of Orontium aquaticum L. (Araceae), golden club or floating arum, Aroideana 15, 25–33.
  6. ^ S.J. Mayo, J. Bogner, P.C. Boyce, (1997). The genera Araceae, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

References

  • Bown, Deni (2000). Aroids: Plants of the Arum Family [ILLUSTRATED]. Timber Press. ISBN 0-88192-485-7


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