184 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



of roses. East African Sandalwood oil is obtained from Osyris 

 tenuifolia and yields an oil having an odor resembling that of West 

 Indian Sandalwood oil. 



Literature. Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 



ARISTOLOCHIACE^E, OR BIRTHWORT FAMILY 



Herbs or mostly twining woody plants with reniform or cordate, 

 palmi-nerved leaves. There are about 200 species, mostly repre- 

 sented in tropical and sub-tropical countries. The family is espe- 

 cially characterized by the presence of secretory cells having a vola- 

 tile oil. These occur not only in the epidermal cells of the leaf, but 

 in all other parts of the plants. The secretory cells are from 0.012 

 to 0.075 mm. in diameter, the walls are usually suberized, and the 

 oil occurs in the lumina, usually in colorless or yellowish globules. 

 The oil is not of uniform composition, the cells of Aristolochia Lin- 

 deniana Plagiophylla being colored an indigo blue with aqueous 

 solutions containing chlorin, which is apparently due to the con- 

 version of a mother substance into indigo. Tannin-containing 

 cells are also present in certain of the Aristolochias. Calcium oxalate 

 generally occurs in the form of small prismatic or clustered crystals. 

 Cells with silicified walls are found in the upper epidermis of the 

 leaf and the palisade tissue. A non-glandular hair, the terminal cell 

 of which is curved like a hook, is rather characteristic in Aristolochia 

 (Fig. 79) and other genera. 



ASARUM. Canada Snake Root or Wild Ginger. The rhizome 

 of Asarum canadense (Fam. Aristolochiacese) , a common acaules- 

 cent, perennial herb growing in rich woods of northern and central 

 United States. The rhizome is gathered in the spring, deprived 

 of the roots and carefully cleaned and then dried. 



Description. Horizontal, more or less branched, quadrangular, 

 curved or twisted; from 3 to 10 cm. in length and 2 to 4 mm. in thick- 

 ness; externally light and dark brown with prominent nodes, on 

 the upper side of which occur the irregular scars of the ascending 

 branches, otherwise longitudinally wrinkled and marked by circular 

 scars on the scaly leaves; fracture short, the fractured surface 

 resinous and marked by a small circle of yellowish fibrovascular 

 bundles; odor aromatic; taste pungent and bitter. 



Inner Structure. See Fig. 77. 



Powder. Light yellowish-brown; starch grains numerous, single 

 or 2- to 5-compound, the individual grains irregularly spheroidal, 

 from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, frequently marked by a central 



