ORDER 100. ARISTOLOCHIACE^E. 601 



COHORT 3. APETAL^E, 



OR MONOCHLAMYDEOUS EXOGENS. Dicotyledons with no 

 corolla, the calyx or perianth green or colored, consisting of 

 a single series of similar organs, or often wholly wanting. 



ORDER C. ARISTOLOCHIACE^E. BIRTHWORTS. 



Low herbs or climbing shrubs, with alternate leaves and perfect flowers. Perianth 

 tube adherent to the ovary, brown or dull, valvate in the bud. Stamens 6 to 12, 

 epigynous and adherent to the base of the styles. Ovary 6-celled, becoming a 6- 

 celled, many-seeded capsule or berry. Seed albuminous, embryo minute. Fig. 133. 



Genera 9, species 130, most abundant in the tropical countries of S. America, thinly diffused 

 throughout the northern hemisphere. Properties tonic and stimulant. Both the following gen- 

 ora are successfully employed in medicine. 



1. ASA^RUM, Tonrn. WILD GINGER. (Gr. a, not, oetpd, a band, 

 because rejected in wreathing garlands.) Calyx campanulate, regular, 

 3-cleft ; stamens 12, placed upon the ovary, anthers adnate to the middle 

 or summit of the filaments ; style very short ; stigma 6-rayed ; fruit 

 fleshy, 6-celled, crowned with the calyx. Zf Herbs with creeping 

 rhizomes and 1 or 2 Ivs. on each branch. Fls. solitary. 



Leaves in pairs. Calyx lobes pointed, reflexed. Ovary wholly adherent No. 1 



Leaves solitary. Calyx lobes obtuse, suberect Ovary partly free Nos. 2, a 



1 A. Canadense L. Lvs. 2, broad-reniform, on long, opposite petioles with the 

 flower between ; calyx woolly, deeply 3-cleft, the segm. reflected. In rich, 

 shady soil, Can. to Ga". and W. States. Lvs. radical, large, 2 to 4' by 3 to 5', with 

 a deep sinus at base, and a soft, velvet-like surface. Fl. solitary, on a nodding 

 peduncle, and close to the ground, sometimes even buried just beneath the sur- 

 face. Cal. purplish, of 3 broad, long-pointed divisions abruptly spreading. Fil. 

 longer than the anthers, their tips (connectile) produced beyond them. May Jl. 

 The rhizome is a popular medicine, used in measles and whooping cough. 



2 A. Virgin! cum L. Lvs. solitary, orbicular-ovate, glabrous, coriaceous, deeply 

 cordate, entire, obtuse ; fl. subsessile ; cal. short, subcampanulate, glabrous exter- 

 nally. Grows in light soils among rocks, and Mts., Va., Ky. to Ga. A low, stem- 

 less plant, very similar in habit to the preceding. Each branch of the rhizomo 

 bears a terminal leaf and a flower. Leaf 2 to 3' diam., very smooth, clouded 

 with spots, the petiole twice longer, lobes at base rounded and nearly closed. 

 Flower many times shorter than the petiole. Calyx segments obtuse, of a dusky 

 purple, greenish outside. Apr. 



3 A. arifolium MX. Lvs. solitary, broadly hastate, puberulent on the veins, thin, 

 with a deep sinus at base, the lobes obtusely angled and turned slightly outward ; 

 cal. inflated-urceolate, contracted above, with 3 very short, obtuse lobes at summit. 

 Rich soils, Ya. to Fla. and La. Rhizomes slender, white. Petioles 2 to 3' long. 

 Lvs. 2 to 3' by 1 to 2', margins wavy. Fls. 9" long, roughish, purplish-brown as 

 long as their stalks. Mar. May. 



2. ARISTOLO'CHIA, Tourn. BIRTHWORT. (Gr. apiaro$, excellent, 

 Xoxela, child-birth ; alluding to the medicinal properties.) Calyx 

 tubular, tube variously bent and inflated above the ovary, border un- 



