642 



ARISTOLOCHIACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



Acaulescent herbs ; perianth regular, j-lobed, persistent ; filaments distinct. 



Calyx-tube wholly adnate to the ovary; styles united. i. Asarum. 



Calyx-tube nearly free from the ovary ; styles distinct. 2. He.vastylis. 



Leafy erect herbs or twining vines ; perianth irregular, deciduous ; anthers sessile, adnate to the 

 stigma. 3. Aristolochia. 



i. ASARUM (Tourn.) L. Sp. PL 442. 1753. 



Acaulescent perennial often clustered herbs, with slender aromatic branched rootstocks, 

 thick fibrous-fleshy roots, long-petioled cordate, mostly ovate or orbicular entire leaves, and 

 solitary large peduncled purple-brown or mottled flowers, borne very near or upon the 

 ground. Calyx campanulate or hemispheric, adnate to the ovary at least below, regularly 

 3-lobed, the lobes valvate. Stamens 12, inserted on the ovary; filaments short, stout; con- 

 nective of the anther-sacs more or less continued beyond them as a tip. Ovary partly or 

 wholly inferior, 6-celled, the parietal placentae intruded ; ovules numerous, horizontal or 

 pendulous. Capsule coriaceous, crowned by the withering-persistent calyx and stamens, 

 subglobose or hemispheric, at length bursting irregularly or longitudinally dehiscent. Seeds 

 compressed. [The ancient name, its meaning obscure.] 



About 20 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, 3 others occur in 

 western North America. Type species: Asarum eiiropaeum L. The plants are known as Asarabacca. 

 Calyx-segments lanceolate-acuminate, longer than the tube, not reflexed. 



Calyx-segments slightly longer than the tube, the tubular portion 2" -4," long; species mainly 



Alleghanian. i. A. canadensc. 



Calyx-segments much longer than the tube, the tubular portion s"-io" long; species campes- 

 trian. 2. A. acuminatiun. 



Calyx-segments triangular, merely acute, about as long as the tube, reflexed. 3. A. reflex-urn. 



i. Asarum canadense L. Wild or Indian 



Ginger. Fig. 1571. 

 Asarum canadense L. Sp. PI. 442. 1753. 



Finely pubescent, petioles rather slender, 6'- 12' 

 long. Leaves commonly 2 to each plant, reni- 

 form, thin, short-pointed at the apex, 4.'-?' broad, 

 dark green, not mottled, the basal sinus deep and 

 open ; flower slender-peduncled from between the 

 bases of the petioles, i' broad or more when ex- 

 panded, brownish purple; calyx ovoid, its tube 

 completely adnate to the ovary, its lobes inflexecl 

 in the bud, ovate-lanceolate, acute or long- 

 acuminate, spreading, a little longer than the tube; 

 filaments longer than the anthers ; stigmas radiat- 

 ing; capsule 6"-8" in diameter. 



In rich woods, New Brunswick to Manitoba, south 

 to North Carolina, Missouri and Kansas. Ascends to 

 3000 ft. in Virginia. Called also Canada snakeroot. 

 April-May. Rootstocks with the flavor of ginger. 

 False coltsfoot. Colic-root. Heart-, Vermont or 

 southern snakeroot. Asarabacca. 



2. Asarum acuminatum (Ashe) Bicknell. 

 Long-tipped Wild Ginger. Fig. 1572. 



A. canadense var. acuminatum Ashe, Contr. i : 2. 1897. 

 Asarum acuminatum Bicknell; Britton & Brown, 111. 

 Fl. 3: 513- 1898. 



Similar to A. canadense but more pubescent, 

 at least when young. Leaves thin and mem- 

 branous, reni form-cordate and acutely short- 

 pointed or broadly reniform and blunt, at first 

 densely cinereous-tomentose on the lower sur- 

 face, less _so _when old, the larger veins often 

 densely divaricate-pubescent, giving the leaves 

 beneath a coarsely white-reticulated appearance ; 

 calyx-lobes much longer than in A. canadense 

 and duller brownish-purple, caudate-acuminate, 

 or flagellate, the slender terminations recurved- 

 spreading, often flexuous, 5"-io" long. 



Rich woods, Minnesota and Wisconsin to Towa, 

 Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. May-June. 



