642 



ARISTOLOCHIACEAE. 



VOL. I. 



Acaulescent herbs ; perianth regular, 3-lobed, persistent ; filaments distinct. 



Calyx-tube wholly adnate to the ovary; styles united. i. Asarum. 



Calyx-tube nearly free from the ovary ; styles distinct. 2. Hexastylis. 



Leafy erect herbs or twining vines ; perianth irregular, deciduous ; anthers sessile, adnate to the 

 stigma. 3. Aristolochia. 



i. ASARUM (Tourn.) L. Sp. PI. 442. 1753. 



Acaulescent perennial often clustered herbs, with slender aromatic branched rootstocks, 

 thick fibrous-fleshy roots, long-petioled cordate, mostly ovate or orbicular entire leaves, and 

 solitary large peduncled purple-brown or mottled flowers, borne very near or upon the 

 ground. Calyx campanulate or hemispheric, adnate to the ovary at least below, regularly 

 3-lobed, the lobes valvate. Stamens 12, inserted on the ovary; filaments short, stout; con- 

 nective of the anther-sacs more or less continued beyond them as a tip. Ovary partly or 

 wholly inferior, 6-celled, the parietal placentae intruded; ovules numerous, horizontal or 

 pendulous. Capsule coriaceous, crowned by the withering-persistent calyx and stamens, 

 subglobose or hemispheric, at length bursting irregularly or longitudinally dehiscent. Seeds 

 compressed. [The ancient name, its meaning obscure.] 



About 20 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, 3 others occur in 

 western North America. Type species : Asarum enropaeum L. The plants are known as Asarabacca. 

 Calyx-segments lanceolate-acuminate, longer than the tube, not reflexed. 



Calyx-segments slightly longer than the tube, the tubular portion 2"-$" long ; species mainly 



Alleghanian. i. A. canadense. 



Calyx-segments much longer than the tube, the tubular portion s"-io" long; species campes- 

 trian. 2. A. acnminatum. 



Calyx-segments triangular, merely acute, about as long as the tube, reflexed. 3. A. reflexum. 



i. Asarum canadense L. Wild or Indian 

 Ginger. Fig. 1571. 



Asarum canadense L. Sp. PI. 442. 1753. 



Finely pubescent, petioles rather slender, 6'-i2' 

 long. Leaves commonly 2 to each plant, reni- 

 form, thin, short-pointed at the apex, 4'-?' broad, 

 dark green, not mottled, the basal sinus deep and 

 open ; flower slender-peduncled from between the 

 bases of the petioles, i' broad or more when ex- 

 panded, brownish purple ; calyx ovoid, its tube 

 completely adnate to the ovary, its lobes inflexed 

 in the bud, ovate-lanceolate, acute or long- 

 acuminate, spreading, a little longer than the tube; 

 filaments longer than the anthers; stigmas radiat- 

 ing; capsule 6"-8" in diameter. 



In rich woods, New Brunswick to Manitoba, south 

 to North Carolina, Missouri and Kansas. Ascends to 

 3000 ft. in Virginia. Called also Canada snakeroot. 

 April-May. Rootstocks with the flavor of ginger. 

 False coltsfoot. Colic-root. Heart-, Vermont or 

 southern snakeroot. Asarabacca. 



2. Asarum acuminatum (Ashe) Bicknell. 

 Long-tipped Wild Ginger. Fig. 1572. 



A. canadense var. acuminatum Ashe, Contr. i : 2. 1897. 

 Asarum acuminatum Bicknell ; Britton & Brown, 111. 

 Fl. 3: 513- 1898. 



Similar to A. canadense but more pubescent, 

 at least when young. Leaves thin and mem- 

 branous, reni form-cordate and acutely short- 

 pointed or broadly reniform and blunt, at first 

 densely cinereous-tomentose on the lower sur- 

 face, less so when old, the larger veins often 

 densely divaricate-pubescent, giving the leaves 

 beneath a coarsely white-reticulated appearance ; 

 calyx-lobes much longer than in A. canadense 

 and duller brownish-purple, caudate-acuminate, 

 or flagellate, the slender terminations recurved- 

 spreading, often flexuous, s"-io" long. 



Rich woods, Minnesota and Wisconsin to Iowa, 

 Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. May-June. 



