ARISTOLOCHIACE^E.LA URACE&. 285 



lanceolate-hastate ; upper ones lanceolate ; all entire, petiolate, very acid to 

 the taste ; flowers small, tinged with a dull red, in slender, leafless racemes, 

 anthers of the barren flowers yellow ; valves ovate. Weed, in dry, sandy 

 soils, 3'-8' high. May-October. 



Order LXXI. ARISTOLOCHIACE^E {Birthwort Family). 



Herbs, or shrubby plants ; in the latter case often climbing. 

 Leaves alternate or radical. Flowers perfect, solitary, of a dull 

 brown or greenish color. Calyx-tube more or less adherent to 

 the ovary; limb 3-cleft. Stamens 6 or 12, epigynous, or adherent 

 to the base of the short and thick style. Ovary 3- or 6-celled. 

 Stigmas radiate, as many as the cells of the ovary. Fruit a many- 

 seeded capsule or berry. 



Asarum. Calyx campanulate ; limb 3-cleft ; tube adherent to the 

 ovary. Stamens 12, inserted on the ovary. Anthers short. Style very 

 short. Stigma 6-rayed. Fruit globular, fleshy, 6-celled. ^ 



A. CANADENSE ( Wild Ginger}. Pubescent, stemless ; leaves 2, broad- 

 reniform, large, on long, hairy petioles, soft-downy ; flowers solitary, large, 

 nodding, on a downy pedicel ; calyx woolly ; segments reflexed from the mid- 

 dle, brownish purple within. In rich woods. July. 



Order LXX. LAURACE^E (Laurel Family). 



Trees, or shrubs. Leaves alternate, usually punctate with 

 pellucid dots, destitute of stipules. Flowers perfect, or diceciously 

 polygamous. Sepals 4-6, more or less united at base, imbricated 

 in 2 series. Stamens definite, usually more numerous than the 

 sepals, inserted on their base. Anthers 2-4-celled, opening by 

 recurved valves from base to apex. Ovary, style, and stigma 

 single. Fruit a berry or drupe, usually with a thickened pedicel. 

 Seed large, with a conspicuous embryo. 



f Fruit a drupe Sassafras. 

 LAURACE^:. \ 



(. Fruit a berry Lindera. 



I. Sassafras. Flowers dioecious. Calyx spreading, colored, 6- 

 parted. Barren flowers with 9 stamens, in 3 rows. Anthers opening 

 by 4 valves. Fertile flowers with 6 rudimentary stamens. Style fili- 

 form. Drupe obovoid, i-seeded. Trees. 



S. OFFICINALE (Sassafras}. Leaves ovate, entire, or 3-lobed, and taper- 

 ing at base, alternate, petiolate, mucilaginous, as also the young shoots ; 

 flowers greenish yellow, in pedunculate clusters, appearing before the leaves ; 

 drupes dark blue, on a red stalk. Woodlands, 20-40 feet high. April-May. 



