102 BOTANY. 



albumen ; cotyledons inconspicuous ; radicle next the hilum. Herbs or 

 shrubs, often climbing, with alternate, simple, often stipulate leaves, and soli- 

 tary axillary flowers. Found in abundance in the warm regions of South 

 America, and growing also in the temperate and cold regions of Europe, Asia, 

 and America. There arc eight known genera and 130 species. Examples : 

 Asarum, Aristolochia. Ileterotropa. 



Asarabacca of the Pharmacopoeia consists of the dried leaves of Asarum 

 europseum. A. canadense is known as wild ginger. Aristolochia serpentaria 

 or Viririnia snake root, is a valuable medicine. It is to be distinguished from 

 the seneca snake root, Polygala senega. Aristolochia sipho, a well-known 

 North American plant, is called Dutchman's pipe, from the grotesque simili- 

 tude of its leaves. Species of this genus were formerly considered efficacious 

 in certain uterine affections. The flowers of some Aristolochias are remarka- 

 ble for their size and beauty. 



Aristolochia clematitis, BirthAvort, a highly poisonous species of central 

 Europe. PI. 58, 50, fi^. 10 : a rhizome, with the lower part of the stem ; 

 6, upper part of the plant ; c, flower enlarged, partly in section ; </, cross- 

 section of the flower ; e, do. of ovary ; /, seed vessel in longitudinal section ; 

 g, a seed ; A and /, do. in transverse and longitudinal sections ; k, embryo 

 magnified. 



A. serpentaria, Virginia snake root {pi. 58, 59, ßg: 12) ; a the entire plant ; 

 6, a seed. 



A. sipho, Dutchman's pipe, United States {pi. 58, 59, ßg. 11). 



Order 61. Santalacr.t:, the Sandalwood Family. Herbs, shrubs, or 

 trees, with entire leaves ; the four- to five-cleft calyx valvate in the bud, its 

 tube coherent with the one-celled ovary, Avhich contains two to four ovules 

 (consisting of a cellular nucleus, destitute of any proper integument) suspend- 

 ed from the apex of a stalk-like free central placenta which rises from the 

 base of the cell, but the (iudehiscent) friiit always one-seeded. Embryo small, 

 at the apex of copious ulltumen ; radicle directed upwards ; cotyledons cylin- 

 drical. Stamens equal in number to the lobes of the calyx, and inserted op- 

 posite them into the edge of the fleshy disk at their base. Style one. Found 

 in Europe, Asia, America, and New Holland. 



Sandalwood, a highly fragrant wood, is derived from Santalum album and 

 other Indian and Polynesian species. North American species of this family 

 are Comandra umbellata (Toad Flax) and Pyrularia oleifera or Buffalo nut, 

 common in the southern United States. Santalum myrtifolium, sandalwood 

 (Java) {pi. Q9,ßg. 8). 



Order 62. Nyssace.e, the Tupelo Family. This differs from the San- 

 talaceae in the solitai-y ovule suspended from the top of the cell. This family 

 is represented in the United States by the sole genus Nyssa, composed of 

 trees remarkable for the adhesion of their fibres, it being almost impossible to 

 split a block of the wood. The naves of carriage wheels are usually made of 

 the wood of Nyssa multiflora, or Gum tree. Southern species are known as 

 Tupelo, Ogeechee lime, «fcc, the latter term, however, being applied more cor- 

 rectly to the fruit, which is in great request as a preserve. 



Order 63. HoMALiACEiE, the Homalia Family. Perianth funnel-shaped, 

 102 



