354 MONOCHLAMYDEjB 



antidotes to snake bites. The juice extracted from the root of a 

 South American species is said to have the power of stupefying 

 serpents if placed in their mouths. Other African species are said 

 to be used by the Egyptian jugglers to stupefy the snakes with 

 which they play tricks during the exhibition of their art. The 

 wood of Aristolochia is remarkable for not being arranged in con- 

 centric layers, but in wedges. A thin slice is a beautiful object for 

 examination under a microscope of low power. 



i. Aristolochia (Birth-wort). Perianth tubular, curved, swollen 

 at the base, the mouth dilated on one side ; anthers 6, inserted on 

 the style ; stigma 6-lobed ; capsule 6-celled. (Name in Greek 

 denoting the supposed medicinal virtues of the plant.) 



2. Asarum (Asarabacca). Perianth bell-shaped, 3-cleft ; stamens 

 12, inserted at the base of the style ; stigma 6-lobed ; capsule 

 6-celled. (Name from the Greek, a, not, and seira, a wreath, 

 denoting that the plant was by the ancients excluded from gar- 

 lands.) 



1. Aristolochia (Birth-wort) 



1. A. clematitis (Birth- wort). The only species found growing 

 in wild situations in Britain. A singular plant, with creeping 

 roots, slender, unbranched, erect stems, and large heart-shaped 

 leaves ; the flowers, which grow several together, are of a dull 

 yellow colour, swollen at the base, contracted above, and expanding 

 into an oblong lip with a short point. Woods, and among ruins 

 in the east and south of England ; rare. Fl. July, August. Per- 

 ennial. 



2. Asarum (Asarabacca) 



1. A. EuropcBum (Asarabacca). The only species found in 

 Britain, and a doubtful native. A curious plant, consisting of a 

 very short stem, bearing two large, shining, kidney-shaped leaves, 

 and a solitary dingy, brown-green flower. Woods in the north ; 

 rare. Fl. May. Perennial. 



Natural Order LXXII 



EMPETRACEiE. Crow- berry Tribe 



Stamens and pistils on separate plants ; perianth of several 

 scales arranged in 2 rows, the inner resembling petals ; stamens 

 equal in number to the inner scales, and alternate with them ; 

 ovary of 3, 6, or 9 cells, on a fleshy disk ; style 1 ; stigma rayed ; 

 fruit fleshy, with long cells ; seeds 1 in each cell. Small heath-like 

 evergreen shrubs, with minute axillary flowers, chiefly inhabiting 

 Europe and North America. The leaves and fruit slightly acid. 

 The berries of the Crow-berry (Empetrum nigrum), though of an 



