BIRTHWORT FAMILY 75 



ARISTOLOCHIACEAE. Birthwort Family. 

 Flowers perfect, the brownish or greenish perianth 3-lobed, 



the tube somewhat attached to the 6-celled ovary. 

 6 to 12, on the ovary. 



Stamens 



1. ASARUM. Wild Ginger. 



1. A. hartwegii Wats. Leaves alternate, entire, broadly 

 heart-shaped, pubescent below, 

 3 to 5 in. broad, on petioles 3 to 

 6 in. long. Flowers short-pedun- 

 cled, in the leaf-axils. Calyx- 

 lobes triangular, continued into 

 a tail 24 to V/2 in. long. Fila- 

 ments stout, continued beyond 

 the anthers as a slender append- 

 age. Styles 6, united at base. 



This peculiar plant is appar- 

 ently stemless, the fragrant, 

 creeping rootstocks being hid- 

 den in a mass of dried leaves or 

 other matter. The hairy, brown- 

 ish flowers, with their long-tailed 

 calyx-lobes, are nearly hidden 

 by the clumps of broad leaves, 

 which are often beautifully mot- 

 tled with white. From its com- 

 mon name one might assume 

 that the roots could be used as 

 a substitute for ginger, but such 

 is not the case. They are highly 

 aromatic, however, and this has 

 led to the suggestion that they might be used in the manu- 

 facture of sachet powders. The Wild Ginger is common in 

 good soil in the lower part of the Yellow Pine Belt. 



2. A. lemmonii Wats. Calyx-lobes only y 2 in. or less long 

 and not tailed, the filaments not appendaged; otherwise 

 similar to no. 1. — A rare species, found growing near logs 

 in the Merced Grove. 



Aristolochia californica Torr., the Dutchman's Pipe, has 

 been found at "Tissack Bridge", but it is common only in the 

 foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada and of the Coast 

 Ranges. Tissack Mountain is the Indian name of Half Dome. 

 The plant is a woody vine with heart-shaped leaves and in- 

 flated flowers (1 in. or more long) which turn back on them- 

 selves so as to bring the opening near the base. 



