ARISTOLOCHIACEJE. 



704. A. grandiflora Swartz prodr. 121. fl. ind. occ. iii. 1566. 

 Willd. iv. 155. Mountain thickets in Jamaica. 



Stem twining, woody at the base. Leaves stalked, alternate, cordate, 

 rather acute, entire, nerved, veiny, smooth on each side, 4^5 inches 

 long. Flowers solitary, axillary, very large. Calyx narrow and 6- 

 angled at the base, downy externally ; above the base ventricose and 

 compressed ; in the middle contracted, round, angular ; higher up 

 reflexed ; finally dilated into a large, ventricose, oblique limb, which is 

 entire, somewhat cordate, flaccid, wavy, velvety purple, marked with 

 white, terminated by a linear acuminate appendage a foot long. The 

 whole plant emits a powerful narcotic unpleasant smell, which Swartz 

 compares to that of Chenopodium vulvaria. It is poisonous to hogs, 

 according to the same author. 



704 a. A. cymbifera Mart. n. g. et. sp. i. 76. t. 4-9. Lindl. in 

 Bot. Reg. xviii. t. 154-3. A. grandiflora Gomez in act. olyssip. 

 1812. p. 64. c. ic. A. ringens Martins trav. Eng. ed. ii. 91. not 

 of Vahl. Shady thickets in the province of S. Paul, and near 

 Rio Janeiro. 



Stem twining, covered with a corky cracked bark. Leaves very 

 large, cordate-reniform, smooth, with a very open sinus at the base, 

 bordered by the bases of the lateral ribs. Flowers very large, yellow 

 mixed and spotted with purple, hairy inside, with an obovate tube, and 

 an abruptly reflected 2-lipped limb ; upper lip short, ovate, carinate, 

 acute ; lower four times as long, inflated and cymbiform at the base, 

 gradually extended into a broad, plaited, roundish, membranous ex- 

 tremity. The root, which has a very penetrating, disagreeable smell, 

 like that of rue, and a strong, bitter, aromatic taste, produces almost 

 entirely the same effects as the Virginia snake-root (A. serpentaria). 

 It is very frequently used in Brazil against ulcers, paralytic affections 

 of the extremities, dyspepsy, impotentia virilis, in nervous and inter- 

 mitting fevers, especially those in which a predominant disorder of the 

 pituitous membrane, or the whole lymphatic system has been observed, 

 and, lastly, against the bites of serpents. According to Gomez, the 

 powdered root is given in doses of a scruple, from 4> to 6 times a 

 day ; the decoction is ordered in doses of 4 to 6 ounces, and the 

 juice expressed from the leaves, of 1 or 2 drachms daily. Marlins's 

 Travels, ii. 91. 



704 b. A. macroura Gomez 1. c.Martius 1. c. p. 79. Woods 

 of Brazil. ( Jarrinha.) 



Stem twining, smooth, angular, furrowed.; stipules reniform. Leaves 

 cordate at the base, 3-lobed. Peduncles 1 -flowered. Tube of the 

 calyx obovate; limb deflexed, cylindrical, enlarged at the throat, 

 1 -lipped ; lip cordate-deltoidal from the base, thrice as broad as the 

 throat, extended into a crenulated point above a foot long. Martins. 

 The root and herb are similar in their effects to those of the last, 

 but more potent. 



705. A. fragrantissima Ruiz in Lzmb. cinch. 175. t. 4. In 

 the woods of the Peruvian Andes. (Star reed.) 



A climbing shrub. Root fusiform, very long, as much as 6 inches 

 thick, greyish brown ; bark 1-4 lines thick ; wood radiated in a trans- 

 verse section, whitish, easily separating into numerous flexible plates. 



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