ASARUM EVROPAUM, ORD. VIII. Sarmentacee. d74 
THE root is perennial, strong, divided and fibrous: it has no 
stalk, so that the leaves rise immediately from the root; they grow 
in pairs, are kidney-shaped, large, of a deep shining green colour, 
and stand upon long footstalks: the flowers are large, bell-shaped, of 
a dirty purple colour, and placed singly upon short peduncles at the 
base of the footstalks: the calyx supplies the place of a corolla, and 
is large, bell-shaped, divided at the mouth into three or four pointed 
segments, which are of a brownish purple colour, but towards the 
base it is greenish: the filaments are twelve, about half the length 
of the calyx, and furnished with oblong anther, which are attached 
to the sides of the filaments: from the germen arises a simple style, 
crowned with a stigma, divided into six eatgiated reflected parts: the 
capsule is of a leathery texture, and divided into six cells, which 
contain several small oblong seeds. It is a native of England,* and 
flowers in May. 
It appears from Pliny,” that by the Ancients the name of this 
plant was frequently confounded with that of nardus and baccharis; 
and the English name Asarabacca has been derived from the words 
asarum and baccharis: it is evident however that the plants, now 
known by these names, differ very considerably both in their 
appearance and effects. 
“ The leaves and roots of Asarum have a moderately strong <i 
not very unpleasant smell, somewhat resembling that of valerian or 
nard,f and a nauseous bitterish acrid taste: ‘they seem to agree 
also in their medicinal effeéts, both proving strongly emetic and 
cathartic: the root has been observed to excite vomiting so con-— 
stantly, that it is proposed by Linnzus as a substitute for ipeca- 
cuanha;* and Dr. Cullen says, “the root dried only so much as to 
2 It is extremely — Ray observes it is found in some woods in Lancashire, ic. 
> His. Nat. L. xii. c. 13. et L. xxi. cap. 6. 
Asaron, ab « priv. & caipw orno, queniam in coronis non addatur, 
+ Nardus Celtica L. ° Lewis M. M. p. 122. 
4 Am, Acad. T. 7. p. 307. where it is also observed, that when exhibited in a state 
of very fine powder, it uniformly acts as an emetic, but when coarsely powdered it 
always passes the stomach and becomes cathartic. 
a 
