540 



ARISTOLOCHIACEAE. 



i. Aristolochia Serpentaria L,. 



Virginia Snakeroot. Serpentary. ( Fig. 1281.) 

 Aristolochia Serpentaria L. Sp. PI. 961. 1753. 



A perennial pubescent nearly erect herb, IC/-3 

 tall, with short rootstocks and fibrous aromatic 

 roots. Leaves ovate, ovate-lanceolate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, thin, green on both sides, acuminate at 

 the apex, cordate or hastate at the base, i^ / -5 / 

 long, YZ'-I' wide; petioles % f -i' long; lowest 

 leaves reduced to- scales; flowers solitary and ter- 

 minal, on slender basal scaly branches; tube of 

 the calyx curved like the letter S, enlarged at the 

 ovary and at its throat, the limb short, spreading, 

 slightly 3-lobed; anthers contiguous in pairs; 

 stigma 3-lobed; capsule subglobose, ridged, about 

 YZ ' in diameter. Flowers sometimes cleistogamous. 



In dry woods, Connecticut and New York to Michi- 

 gan, Florida, Louisiana and Missouri. Ascends to 

 2500 ft. in Virginia. June-July. Fruit ripe Sept. 



2. Aristolochia Clematitis L,. 

 Birthwort. (Fig. 1282.) 



Aristolochia Clematitis L. Sp. PI. 962. 1753. 



Herbaceous, perennial; stem erect, gla- 

 brous, zigzag, striate, i-2 tall. Leaves 

 dark green, reniform, subacute or obtuse at 

 the apex, glabrous or their margins mi- 

 nutely spinulose-ciliate, strongly reticulate- 

 veined, 2 / ~5 / wide; petioles shorter than the 

 blades; flowers fascicled in the axils, I'-i^' 

 long; tube of the calyx yellowish green, 

 straight, enlarged around the ovary, the 

 lobes appendaged; anthers equidistant. 



Xear Ithaca and Flushing, N. Y. Escaped 

 from cultivation. Native of southern Europe. 

 Summer. 



3. Aristolochia macrophylla Lam. Dutchman's Pipe. (Fig. 1283.) 



Aristolochia macrophylla. Lam. Encycl. i: 255. 1783. 

 Aristolochia Sipho L'Her. Stirp. Nov. 13. 1784. 



A twining vine, the stem sometimes i' in diame- 

 ter and 30 long, the branches very slender, terete, 

 green, glabrous. Leaves thin, broadly reniform 

 or suborbicular, densely pubescent beneath when 

 young, glabrous or nearly so and 6 / -is' broad 

 when mature; petioles slender, i'-4' long; pedun- 

 cles solitary or 2 or 3 together in the axils, about 

 as long as the petioles, each with a suborbicular 

 clasping bract at about the middle Yt'-\ f in dia- 

 meter; calyx-tube strongly curved, i' or more 

 long, inflated above the ovary, contracted at the 

 throat, yellowish-green, veiny, the limb flat, 

 spreading, purple-brown, somewhat 3-lobed; an- 

 thers contiguous in pairs under the 3 lobes of the 

 stigma; capsule oblong-cylindric, strongly parallel- 

 nerved, 2 / -3 / long, 8"-io" in diameter. 



In rich woods, southern Pennsylvania to Minne,- 

 sota. Georgia, Tennessee and Kansas. Ascends to- 

 4500 ft. in Virginia. May-June. Fruit ripe Sept. 



