BOTANIC MATERIA MEDICA, 10g 
Serpentaria, Serpentaria Aristolochia, Ser- 
pentaria.— Natural order Aristolochiacee. 
Common name, Virginia snake-root. This lit- 
tle perennial plant is a native of the United 
States, and found growing along the river cour- 
Ses, arising to the height of from 8 to 12 inches - 
(20 to 30 centimeters), and having more than 
one stem occasionally above the ground and 
from the same root. The leaves are of a pale- 
green color, oblong and cordate with sharp 
points; petioles very short, stamens numbering 
Six, and growing out of the pistils (gynandrous), 
no calyx, flower tubular, monopetalous on a sin- 
gle stem, and purple in color, and quite often 
found buried in the dead leaves, and situated in 
the joints of the plant, and near the rhizome; 
flowers in May and June. There are many va- 
rieties of the aristolochia, many of which are 
used in medicine and for the same diseases. See 
United States Dispensatory, page 1222, 17th 
Ed. The rhizome of the Virginia Snake-root, 
as found in commerce, is in long slender tufts 
with many slender branches or rootlets attached 
to the root. The main rhizome is 1 inch (25 
millimeters) long, and very rugged ; the color 
externally is of a deep brown, but white inter- 
nally, with many woody rays on the lower sur- 
face, that can be seen with a lens of some power. 
This rhizome has a peculiar aromatic and cam- 
phoraceous-like smell, and a taste similar to the 
odor and somewhat pungent, and is due to the 
active principle termed aristolchine. The roots 
of the American senna (Spigelia Marilandica) 
have been found mixed with the snake-root, and 
can only be detected by the want of the bitter 
