186 A FLORA OF MANILA 
the petals. Fruit orange to red when mature, ovoid, 1.5 to 2 em long, 
quite surrounded by the fleshy calyx except at the apex. (FI. Filip. pl. 311.) 
In dry thickets near Fort McKinley, fl. Feb—Apr.; widely distributed in 
the Philippines. Chittagong to Java. 
41. ARISTOLOCHIACEAE (ARISTOLOCHIA FAMILY) 
Herbs or shrubs, erect or climbing. Leaves alternate, entire, or 3- 
to 5-lobed; stipules none. Flowers perfect, small or large, regular or very 
irregular, terminal, axillary, or lateral, solitary, racemose, or cymose, 
bracteate or ebracteate. Calyx superior, regular and 3-lobed, or tubular 
and very irregular. Petals none or very rudimentary. Stamens 6 or 
more, inserted in a ring around the base of the style, anther-cells opening 
by dorsal slits. Ovary inferior, 4- to 6-celled; ovules numerous. Fruit 
capsular. 
Genera 6, species over 200, in most tropical and in some temperate 
countries, 2 genera and 6 or 7 species in the Philippines. 
1. ARISTOLOCHIA Linnaeus 
Usually twining perennial herbs or sometimes shrubby. Leaves entire; 
petiole usually dilated at the base. Perianth variously colored, the tube 
inflated at the base then contracted, hairy within, the limb dilated, obliquely 
1- or 2-lipped. Anthers 6, rarely 5, or more. Style short, 3- to 6-lobed. 
Capsule septicidally 6-valved or splitting through the placentas. (Greek 
“best” and “child-birth,” from reputed medicinal properties of some species.) 
Species about 180, chiefly tropical, 4 or 5 in the Philippines. 
Leaves ovate; flowers racemose, small, narrow.............-...:.--2+---- 1. A. tagala 
Leaves reniform; flowers solitary, large, broad; cultivated only. 
2. A. elegans 
1. A. tagala Cham. Timbangan, Mala-ube (Tag.). 
A twining, suffrutescent, nearly glabrous vine. Leaves ovate to oblong- 
ovate, 8 to 20 ecm long, acuminate, base deeply cordate, the sinus broad. 
Flowers in axillary racemes, the perianth purplish, rather slender, 3 to 3.5 
cm long, the base inflated, globose, the tube somewhat curved, the mouth 
oblique. Capsule pendulous, ovoid, obovoid, or oblong-obovoid, 2 to 4 cm 
long, with a long stipe. (FI. Filip. pl. 104.) 
In thickets, Masambong to Fort McKinley, fl. March—October; widely 
distributed in the Philippines. India and Malaya. 
*2. A. ELEGANS Mast. 
A vine reaching a height of several meters. Leaves reniform, or trian- 
gular-reniform, up to 7 cm long and 10 cm wide, obtuse, base broadly 
cordate. Flowers solitary, the tube sharply curved, the lip expanded, 
concave, ovate-cordate, 6 to 7 cm in diameter, pale, with numerous purple 
spots. Capsule oblong-cylindric, longitudinally ribbed, 5 to 6 em long, 
about 1.5 cm thick. 
Occasionally cultivated for ornamental purposes, fl. Jan—May. A native 
of Brazil, of recent introduction here. ; 
