A KIS TOL O CHI A CEA E. 347 



Family i. ARISTOLOCHIACEAE Blume.* 

 Bir thwart Family. 



Acaulescent plants, or with erect or twining stems. Leaves alternate, 

 often basal, exstipulate. Flowers regular or irregular, sometimes clus- 

 tered. Calyx-limb 3-6-lobed or irregular. Stamens 6-many, adnate to 

 the pistil ; anthers 2-celled, their sacs longitudinally dehiscent. Ovules 

 numerous in each cavity, anatropous, horizontal or pendulous. Fruit a 

 many-seeded 6-celled capsule. Seeds angled or compressed, with a crus- 

 taceous testa and usually with a fleshy or dilated raphe ; endosperm 

 fleshy, copious ; embryo minute. Six genera and about 200 species of 

 wide distribution in tropical and temperate regions. 



Acaulescent herbs; perianth regular, persistent ; filaments distinct. 



Calyx-tube mainly free from the ovary ; filaments shorter than the anthers ; styles 



distinct. i. Hexastylis. 



Calyx-tube wholly adnate to the ovary ; filaments longer than the anthers : styles 



united. 2. Asarum. 



Vines or erect leafy-stemmed herbs ; perianth irregular, deciduous ; anthers sessile. 



3. Arislolochia. 



x. HEXASTYLIS Raf. 



Perennial evergreen acaulescent herbs with glabrous or nearly glabrous foliage. 

 Rootstocks dichotomously branched ; roots fleshy. Leaves usually i every year, 

 the blades leathery, often mottled, petioled. Flowers solitary, on a pedicel aris- 

 ing from a membranous bract. Calyx glabrous without, the tube terete, some- 

 times inflated, the 3 segments shorter than the tube, valvate. Corolla none. Sta- 

 mens 12; filaments shorter than the anthers or wanting. Ovary mainly free from 

 the calyx-tube. Styles distinct, prolonged beyond the extrorse stigmas into cleft 

 appendages. Capsule free, sometimes distending the calyx-tube. Seeds flattened. 

 [Greek, referring to the six styles.] 



Leaf-blades mostly of an ovate or suborbicular type. 



Calyx-tube turbinate during anthesis. i. H. heterophylla. 



Calyx-tube campanulate, cylindric-campanulate, sometimes constricted at the throat. 

 Calyx 2.5-5 cm - lon g:, much longer than thick. 2. H. Shuttleworthii. 



Calyx 1-2 cm. long, slightly longer than thick. 



Calyx campanulate at maturity, its segments about one-half as long as the 



tube. 3. H. Virginica. 



Calyx urn-shaped at maturity, its segments barely one-third as long as the 



tube. . 4. H. Memmingeri. 



Leaf-blades mostly of a hastate type. 



Calyx not constricted at the throat ; segments erect. 5. H. Ruthii. 



Calyx constricted at the throat ; segments spreading. 6. H. arifolia. 



1. Hexastylis heterophylla (Ashe) Small. ASHE'S HEXASTYLIS. Leaf- 

 blades ovate to orbicular-reniform or triangular-ovate, 5-10 cm. long, acute or some- 

 times rounded or retuse at the apex, with a slightly open sinus; petioles as long as 

 the blades or twice as long; calyx 1-1.5 cm - lon ' tne tubes turbinate at least dur- 

 ing anthesis, the segments 8-12 mm. broad, often nearly as long as the tube, 

 crisped, orange, purple or brown-purple without, brighter within ; prolongations of 

 the styles very stout, barely notched ; capsules hardly distending the calyx at 

 maturity ; seeds oval. In mountain woods, Va. to Ga. and Ala. March to May. 

 (Asarum heterophyllum Ashe.) 



2. Hexastylis Shuttleworthii (J. Britten) Small. LARGE FLOWERED HEX A. 

 STYLTS. (I. F. f. 1279.) Leaf-blades ovate to suborbicular or rhombic-orbicular, 

 5-8 cm. long, apiculate or obtuse ; petioles as long as the blades or longer ; calyx 

 2.5-5 cm - l n g ' tne tube cylindric-campanulate, the segments 1.5-2 cm. broad, 

 often abruptly acute, mottled within ; pedicels shorter than the diameter of the 

 calyx -tube ; prolongations of the styles stout, barely notched ; capsule hardly dis- 

 tending the calyx ; seeds triangular in outline. In high-mountain woods, Va. to 



* Contributed by DR. JOHN K. SMALL. 



