32 : MEDICAL BOTANY. 
ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARTIA. 
LINNAEUS. 
VIRGINIA SNAKEROOT. 
ARISTOLOcHIA OFFicinaLis.— Nees and Ebermayer. 
Sex. Syst.—Gynandria, Hexandria. 
Gen. Cuar.—Calyz superior, tubular, coloured, permanent; tumid and nearly globose at the base; limb dilated : 
either lobed and equally spreading, or unilateral, and undivided. Filaments consolidated into a notched cup, crown- 
ing the ovary within the calyx. -Anthers six; sessile on the outer surface of the cup, each of two oblong, separated, 
parallel, bivalve cells. Ovary inferior, oblong, angular. Style scarcely any. Stigma nearly globular, with six deep 
lobes; the summit concave. Capsule with six angles, six cells, and six valves, with double partitions from their 
inflexed margins. Seeds numerous in each cell, depressed, horizontal, lying over each other, triangular, with a dilated 
or thickened winged margin. ( Lindley.) 
Srecir. Cuar.—Root perennial, of numerous, rather coarse fibres. Stem herbaceous, nine to fifteen inches high, 
simple or branched from the base, erect or somewhat leaning, slender, angular, pubescent, nearly naked, or with small 
abortive leaves below, leafy above. Leaves two to five inches long, and three-quarters of an inch to two and a half 
inches wide, lance oblong, acuminate, entire, cordate at base, sometimes auriculately produced, somewhat pubescent. 
Petioles a quarter to an inch long. Flowers rather large, few at the base of the stem, often concealed under dead 
leaves, on flexuose bracteate peduncles one to two inches in length. Bracts small, ovate, alternate. Perianth a dull, 
purplish brown, subcoriaceous, pubescent, tubular, verticose at base, angularly bent, gibbous at the angle, the limb 
dilated and somewhat three-lobed. Capsule turbinate, or roundish-obovoid, large (half an inch or three-quarters in 
length), somewhat succulent, pubescent. Seeds of a tawny ash colour, obovoid, somewhat compressed, slightly keeled 
or ribbed near each margin, tuberculate dotted, open or concave on one side, witha central ridge in the cavity. (Dar- 
lington. ) 
This plant is a native of the Southern and Middle sections of the United States. It inhabits rich woodlands, 
flowering in June, and maturing its fruit in July and August. ae 
The root of this plant is the officinal portion. It is composed of brown fibres attached to a knotty head, having a 
bitter and aromatic taste, and a strong camphoraceous aromatic odour. It contains volatile oil and resin, bitter 
extractive, starch, &c. : 
It is brought usually from the South and West in bales. The medical properties are those of a stimulant tonic, 
and as such it is highly useful. It is given in powder, infusion, and tincture, and constitutes one of the ingredients of 
the compound tincture of bark. 
Pirate LXXVI.—Represents the plant in flower, the fruit, and the dissection of the flower. 
ARISTOLOCHIA RETICULATA. 
NUTTALL. 
Sex. Syst.— Gynandria, Hexandria. 
Gen. Cuar.—Ut supra. but 
Specir. Cuar.— Root resembling the preceding, which sends off numerous short stems, most usually _— a 
occasionally branching near the root. These are slender, round, flexuose, jointed, and slightly villous in old, a : 
numerous, scattered, yellowish-white hairs, but in young specimens amounting to a dense pubescence. The et 
are large, subsessile, varying from round to oblong, cordate, obtuse, reticulate, with very prominent veins and v1 mac 
upon both surfaces, more especially upon the veins and very short petioles. The peduncles, several in number, (fo 
o 
