ARISTOLOCHIACEJE. (bIRTHWORT FAMILY.) 375 
2. ARISTOLOCHIA; Tourn. Birthwort. 
Calyx tubular, the tube variously inflated above the ovary, in 
the subgenus Sipho curved and contracted at the mouth, with an 
abruptly spreading equally 3-lobed border. Stamens 6, the near¬ 
ly sessile anthers wholly adnate to the back of the short and fleshy 
5- (3-) lobed or angled stigma. Pod naked, 6-valved. Seeds 
flat. — Twining, climbing, or sometimes upright perennial herbs 
or shrubs, with alternate leaves and lateral or axillary greenish or 
lurid-purple flowers. (Named from its reputed medicinal prop¬ 
erties.) 
1* A. Serpentaria, L. (Virginia Snakeroot.) Herbaceous , 
low (8' - 15' high), branched at the base, pubescent; leaves ovate 
or oblong from a heart-shaped base , or halbert-form , mostly acute or 
pointed; flowers all next the root, short-peduncled; calyx strongly 
bent and inflated at the curvature, the border obtusely 3-lobed. — A 
narrow-leaved variety is A. sagitt&ta, Mu hi., and A. hirsuta, JYutt. — 
Rich woods, Connecticut to Ohio, and southward, not common ex¬ 
cept near the Alleghany Mountains. July. — The fibrous, aromatic- 
stimulant root is well known in medicine. Calyx bent like a letter S, 
inflated at the two ends. Stigma 3-lobed, with 2 closely approximate 
2-celled anthers (making 4 cells) on the back of each lobe. 
2. A, SipllO, L Her. (Dutchman’s Pipe.) Woody, twining 
and climbing, smooth ; leaves round-heart-shaped , slightly downy un¬ 
derneath; peduncles solitary, 1-flowered, with a clasping bract; ca¬ 
lyx ascending-curved, contracted at the throat, the (brown-purple) 
border obtusely 3-lobed. — Rich woods, mountains from Penn, south¬ 
ward. May. — Stems sometimes 2' in diameter, climbing trees, the 
full-grown leaves 8' -12' broad. Calyx 1^' long. Stigma slightly 3- 
lobed, with a pair of very closely approximate anthers (making 4 con¬ 
tiguous cells) under each lobe. 
Order 83. CHENOPODIACEAE. (Goosefoot Fam.) 
Chiefly herbs, of homely aspect, more or less succulent, 
with chiefly alternate leaves, and no stipules nor scarioys 
bracts ; minute greenish flowers, with the free calyx imbri¬ 
cated in the bud ; the stamens as many as its lobes {or rare¬ 
ly fewer) and inserted opposite them or on their base, a 1- 
celled ovary, becoming a 1-seeded utricle in fruit. Embryo 
coiled into a ring or spiral . — Calyx persistent, inclosing 
the fruit. Styles 2, rarely 3-5. Flowers commonly per¬ 
fect. 
