352 ARISTOLOCHIACEAE (BIRTHWORT FAMILY^ 



1. As ARUM [Tourn.] L. ASARABACCA. WILD GINGER 



Calyx regular; the limb 3-cleft or -parted. Petals 0-3, when present rudi 

 mentary, awl-shaped, alternate with the calyx-lobes. Tips of the filaments 

 usually continued beyond the anther into a point. Capsule rather fleshy, globu- 

 lar, bursting irregularly or loculicidal. Seeds large, thick. Stemless perennial 

 herbs, with aromatic-pungent creeping rootstocks bearing 2 or 3 scales, then one 

 or two kidney-shaped or heart-shaped leaves on long petioles, and a short- 

 peduncled flower close to the ground in the lower axil ; in spring. (An ancient 

 name, of obscure derivation.) 



1. Calyx-tube wholly adnate to the ovary, the tips inflexed in bud; filaments 

 slender, much longer than the short anthers; style barely 6-lobed at the sum- 

 mit, with 6 radiating thick stigmas; leaves a single pair, unspotted. 



1. A. canadnse L. Soft-pubescent ; leaves membranaceous, kidney-shaped, 

 more or less pointed (1-1.5 dm. wide when full grown); calyx bell-shaped, the 

 upper part of the short-pointed lobes more or less spreading, brown-purple inside. 

 Rich woods ; common, especially northw. Var. HEFLEXUM (Bicknell) Robin- 

 son. Calyx-segments short, deltoid, early and rather abruptly reflexed. (A. 

 reflexum Bicknell.) Ct., southw. and westw. Var. ACUMINATUM Ashe. 

 Calyx-segments caudate-acuminate. (A. acuminatum Bicknell.) From Ct. 

 westw. ; the commonest form in the prairie states. 



2. Calyx-tube inflated bell- or flask-shaped, its base adnate to the lower half of 

 the ovary ; limb 3-cleft, short; anthers sessile or nearly so, oblong-linear; 

 styles 6, fleshy, diverging, 2-cleft, bearing a thick extrorse stigma below the 

 cleft ; leaves thickish, persistent, usually only one each year, often whitish- 

 mottled; peduncle very short; rootstocks clustered, ascending. HEXASTYLIS 

 Raf. (1 and 2 connect in foreign species.) 



2. A. virginicum L. Nearly glabrous ; leaves round-heart-shaped (about 5 

 cm. wide) ; calyx short, campanulate, about 2 cm. long, reticulated within ; anthers 

 pointless. (A. minus Ashe ; Hexastylis virginica Small.) VV. Va. and Va. to 

 Ga., in the mts. 



A. HETEROPHYLLUM Ashe (with " campanulate " calyx and "oval" seed) 

 and A. MEMMI.VGERI Ashe (with "urceolate" calyx and "sharply triangular" 

 seed) cannot be satisfactorily distinguished in the material at hand. 



3. A. grandifldrum (Michx.) Small. Closely similar in habit and foliage ; 

 calyx very large, open-campanulate, 2.5-5 cm. long. (A. macranthum Small ; 

 A. Shuttleicorthii Britten; Hexastylis Shuttleworthii Small.) Mts. of Va., 

 Tenn., and N. C. 



4. A. arifblium Michx. Leaves halberd-heart-shaped (6-15 cm. long) ; calyx 

 short-tubular, with very short and blunt lobes ; anthers obtusely short-pointed. 

 (Hexastylis Small.) Va. to Fla. and La. A form (not always distinguishable) 

 with a more flask-shaped calyx has been described as A. Ruthii Ashe. 



2. ARISTOL6CHIA [Tourn.] L. BIRTHWOBT 



Calyx tubular ; the tube variously inflated above the ovary, mostly contracted ; 

 sessile anthers wholly adnate to the short and fleshy 3-6-lobed or -angled style. 

 Capsule naked, septicidally 6-valved. Seeds very flat. Twining, climbing, or 

 sometimes upright perennial herbs or shrubs, with alternate leaves and lateral or 

 axillary greenish or lurid-purple flowers. (Named from reputed medicinal proper- 

 ties). 



* Calyx-tube bent like the letter 8, enlarged at the two ends, the small 

 limb obtusely 3-lobed ; low herbs. 



I. A. Serpentaria L. (VIRGINIA SNAKEROOT.) Stems (1.2-4.5 dm. high) 

 branched at base, pubescent ; leaves ovate or oblong, from a heart-shaped base 

 or halberd-form, mostly acute or pointed ; flowers all next the root, short- 

 peduncled. Rich woods, Ct. to Fla., w, to Mich., Mo., and La. July. The 

 fibrous aromatic-stimulant root is well known in medicine. 



