352 ARISTOLOCHIACEAE (BIRTH WoilT FAMILY} 



1. ASARUM [Tourn.j L. Asarabacca. Wild Gingbr 



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 gi'ound in the lower axil ; in spring. (An ancient 

 name, of obscure derivation.) 



§ 1. Calyx-tube wholly adnate to the ovary^ the tips inflexed in hud; filaments 

 slender^ much longer than the short anthers ; style barely G-lobed at the suia- 

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



1. A. canadense 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. reflexum (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 S-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 chistered, 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.) — W. Va. and Va. to 

 Ga., in the mts. 



A. HETEKOPHYLLUM Ashc (with " campauulatc " calyx and "oval" seed) 

 and A. Memmingeri Ashe (with "urceolate" calyx and " sharply triangular " 

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



3. A. grandifl5rum (Michx.) Small. Closely similar in habit and foliage ; 

 calyx vf-ry large, open-campanulate, 2.5-5 cm. long. {A. macranthum Small ; 

 A. Shuttleworthii 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. Buthii Ashe. 



"2. ARIST0L6CHIA [Toum.] L. Birthwort 



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 S, enlarged at the two ends, the small 



limb obtusely Z-lobed ; low herbs. 



1. 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. 



