by Nathaniel Lord Britton & Addison Brown, An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States… (1913)
“ Herbs mostly with basal long-petioled simple or compound leaves, and spathaceous inflorescence, the spathe enclosing or subtending a spadix. Rootstock tuberous or a corm, in our species mostly with an acrid or pungent sap. Spadix very densely flowered, the staminate flowers above, the pistillate below, or the plants wholly dioecious, or with perfect flowers in some species. ”
