792 



ARISTOLOCHIACE^. 



[EPIGI'NOUS EXOGENS. 



Order CCCIII. ARISTOLOCHIACE^.— Birthworts. 



i' 



Aristolochise, Juss. Gen. (1789) ; R. Brown Prodr. 349 ; Endl. Gen. cxiv. : Horsfield PL Jav. p. 43.- 

 Pistolochinae and Asarinse, LinkHandb. 1. 367. (1829).— Asarineae, Bartl. Ord. Nat. 81. (1830). 



Diagnosis. — Asaral Bxogens, with a 3-6-ceUed ovary and 00 ovules. 



Herbaceous plants or shrubs, the latter often -=^-=yu==?*^ 



climbing. Wood Avithout concentric zones and 

 inseparable wedges. Leaves alternate, simple, 

 stalked, often with a stipule opposite the leaf, 

 scale-shaped or leafy ; or A^-ith none. Flowers 

 axillary, solitary, brow^i or some dull coloiu*. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite. Calyx adliereut, tubu- 

 lar, with the segments valvate or mdupHcate in 

 ssstivation, sometimes regular, sometimes very 

 unequal. Stamens 6 to 12, epigj-nous, distinct, 

 or adhering to the style and stigmas. Ovary in- 

 ferior, 6-celled, very rarely 3 or 4-celled ; o^'^lles 

 anatropal, 00, horizontally attached to the axis ; 

 style simple ; stigmas radiating, as numerous as 

 the cells of the ovary. Fiiiit dry or succulent, 

 3- 4- 6-celled, many seeded. Seeds thin, angu- 

 lar, or round, Avith a very mmute embryo placed 

 in the base of fleshy albumen. Cotyledons incon- 

 spicuous ; radicle next the hilum. 



These are usually stationed upon the limits 

 of Endogens and Exogens, agreeing with the 

 former in the ternary division of the flower, 

 and in some respects in habit ; with the latter in 

 the more essential points of their stiaietm'e. De 

 CandoUe, in the Botanicon GcdUcum, places them 

 between Oleasters and Spurgewoi'ts,to thefomier 

 of which he thinks that they approach through 



Fig. DXXV. 



Asarum, but with the latter of which 

 their relation is not ob^'ious. To Pas- 

 sionflowers they may be compared, on 

 accoimt of the twining habit, alternate 

 leaves, and leafy stipules of many spe- 

 cies ; and to Cucurbits, on account uf 

 theu' twining habit, and inferior ovar'v. 

 BrowTi, however, is of opinion that their 

 affinity is in reality with Nepentlis ; a 



Fir. DXXV.— Aristolochia Ralcata.- 

 3. Imlf its seed. 



-Martins. 1. fmit of an Aristolochia; 2. cross section of it; 



