Ischarum
(from ischein, to check; in reference to the impoverished nature of the upper portion of the spadix). ORD. Aroideae (Araceae). A small genus of greenhouse tuberous herbs, now united, by Bentham and Hooker, to Biarum, from which they differ only in botanical details. For culture, see Typhonium.
I. angustatum (narrow). fl., sheaths nearly white, embracing the base and middle of the spathe; spathe 6in. long, sheathing part nearly white, gradually expanding into an erect, almost black-purple blade; spadix slender, the female portion very short, the neutral part 1/2in. long and white, the male part 1in. long and black-purple. December. l. long, thick, petiolate, oblong-lanceolate, sub-acute. Tuber the size of a small potato. Syria, 1860. (B. M. 6355.)
I. Pyrami (Pyramus). fl., spathe dark velvety-purple, short, broad-lanceolate, long-acuminate, twisted; tube ventricose; spadix almost equal to the spathe. January. l. elliptic-sub-abovate, on long attenuated petioles, obtuse at apex, obliquely nerved. Syria, 1861. (B. M. 5324.)