BIRTHWORT FAMILY. 539 
3. Asarum macranthum (Shuttlw.) Small. Large-flowered Asarum. 
(Fig. 1279.) 
Homotropa macranthum Shuttlw.; Small,Mem. 
Torr. Club, 4: 150, as synonym. 1894. 
Asarum macranthum Small, Mem. Torr. Club, 
5: 136. 1894 
Glabrous, rootstocks more or less branched. 
Leaves 1 or 2 to each plant or branch, 
broadly ovate or suborbicular, dark green 
and usually mottled above, paler beneath, 
2/-4/ long, 114/-3’ wide, obtuse or subacute 
at the apex, the basal sinus mostly narrow; 
petioles 3/-8’ long, ascending; calyx tubular- 
campanulate, 8’’-20’’ long, not or scarcely 
contracted at the throat, the lobes somewhat 
unequal, obtuse, mottled with violet on the 
inner side, one-third to one-half as long as 
the tube; peduncle 8’’-20’’ long; filaments . 
shorter than the anthers; anthers equally 4- 
ribbed, not pointed; styles 6, each 2-cleft. 
In rich mountain woods, Virginia and North 
Carolina. May-July. 
4. Asarum arifolium Michx. Halberd- 
leaved Asarum. (Fig. 1280.) 
A. arifolium Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 279. 1803. 
Pubescent, at least on the veins of the leaves, 
rootstocks slender, usually branched and with 
I or 2 leaves to each branch. Leaves rather 
thick, usually mottled, obtuse at the apex, 2’—5” 
long, some of them hastate, some suborbicular, 
the basal sinus often broad; petioles more or 
less pubescent, 3/-8’ long, erect or ascending; 
flower stout-peduncled, about 1’ long; calyx 
urn-shaped, much contracted at the throat, the 
lobes rounded, about one-fifth as long as the 
tube, which is adnate to the lower half of the 
ovary; anthers nearly sessile, short-pointed; 
styles 6, 2-cleft, with a sessile stigma below the 
cleft; capsule subglobose, about 8’ in diameter. 
In woods, Virginia to Tennessee, Florida and 
Alabama. Ascends to 3000 ft. in Virginia. April- 
June. é 
2. ARISTOLOCHIA L.,. Sp. Pl. 960. 1753. 
Perennial herbs or twining vines. Leaves alternate, mostly petioled and entire (some 
exotic species 3-7-lobed), cordate, palmately 3-many-nerved. Flowers irregular, solitary or 
clustered. Calyx adnate to the ovary, at least to its base, the tube narrow, usually inflated 
around the style and contracted at the throat, the limb spreading or reflexed, entire, 3-6- 
lobed or appendaged. Stamens mostly 6; anthers sessile, adnate to the short style or 
stigma, 2-celled, the sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary partly or wholly inferior, mostly 
6-celled with 6 parietal placentae. Style 3-6-lobed. Capsule naked, septicidally 6-valved. 
Seeds very numerous, horizontal, compressed, their sides flat or concave. [Named for its 
supposed medicinal properties. ] 
About 180 species, widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions. Besides the following, 
some 6 others occur in the southern and western United States. 
Erect herbs. 
Calyx-tube bent; flowers solitary, on basal scaly branches. 1. A. Serpentaria, 
Calyx-tube straight; flowers axillary, clustered. 2. A. Clematitis. 
Tall twining vines; flowers axillary; calyx-tube bent. 
Leaves minutely pubescent; calyx-limb flat, spreading. 3. A. macrophylla. 
Leaves tomentose; calyx-limb rugose, reflexed. 4. A. tomentosa. 
