BIRTHWORT FAMILY. Aristolochiaceae. 



Virginia ^ w oolly stemmed and familiar medici 



Snakeroot nal herb, the long heart-shaped leaves thin 

 Aristolochia and green on both sides, and the dull 



Serpentana greenish flowers with curving crooked 



Dull green 



June-July long stems, near the root, as in Asarum, 



the calyx curved like the letter S. Some- 

 times the flowers are fertilized in the bud without open- 

 ing (Britton), but often they trap many of the smaller 

 insects notably gnats who possibly assist fertilization. 

 Fruit an ovoid ribbed capsule. 8-20 inches high. Conn, 

 and N. Y., south to Fla., west to Mich, and Mo. 



A familiar tall vine in cultivation from 

 Dutchman's _ T ^ , .,. , _ 



PI New \ork south, trailing most frequently 



Aristolochia over arbors, porches, and piazzas. Smooth 

 macrophylla heart-shaped light green leaves, and hook- 

 Dull green, shaped flowers, the yellow-green veiny 

 e W * ^ u ^ e with a flat, three-lobed purple-brown 



throat, resembling a Dutch pipe ; it en- 

 traps early small insects gnats and flies. 10-25 feet 

 high. In rich woods southern Pa., south to Ga., west 

 to Minn. 



The Dutchman's pipe is one of those vigorous, stolid, 

 and satisfactory vines, big leaved and curiously flowered, 

 which commends itself to the horticulturist. It re- 

 sponds readily to cultivation. 



Aristolochia A similar vine, but characterized by an 



tomentosa extreme woolliness ; leaves round-heart- 

 Dull green, shaped, veiny, and smaller than those of 

 purple=brown A s i p ho. The flowers a yellower green, 

 May-June ..* . -,. i n ,1 i 



with calyx exceedingly woolly, the deep 



purple-brown throat nearly closed and oblique. N. Car., 

 south, and west to Mo. 



There is also a southern form of Aristolochia Serpen- 

 taria called var. hastata, with very narrow lance-shaped 

 or linear-oblong leaves, arrowhead in outline, which is 

 found from S. Car. to Fla., and La. 



