268 WEEDS AXD USEFUL PLANTS. 



DIVISION III. 



APET'ALOUS EX'OGENS. 



COROLLA none ; the floral envelopes being in a single series (calyx) , or 

 sometimes wanting altogether. 



ORDER LVL ARISTOLOCHIA'CE^E. (BIRTH WORT FAMILY.) 



Herls or shrubby plants, sometimes nearly stemless, sometimes twining and climbing; 

 leaves alternate, simple, entire, more or less cordate at base, petiolate, often with leal'-liko 

 stipules; calyx-tube more or less coherent with the ovary, the border mostly 3-lobed, 

 valvatc in the bud ; stamens 6-12, more or less united with the style ; antliers adnate, ex- 

 trorse ; ovary mostly 6-celled ; fruit a many-seeded 6-celled pod or berry ; seeds with a 

 large raphe and a minute embryo in a fleshy albumen. 



1. AEISTOLO'CHIA, Tournef. BIRTHWORT. 



[A Greek name, having reference to the medical virtues of the plant.] 



Calyx colored, tubular, the lower portion adherent to the ovary, ven- 

 tricose above the ovary, straight or curved ; limb oblique, 2 - 3-lobed, 

 the lower lobe somewhat ligulate or extended to a lip. Stamens 6 ; 

 the sessile anthers wholly adnate to the back of the short and fleshy 

 3 - 6-lobed or angled "stigma. Capsule naked, 6-valved. Erect or 

 twining perennials with lateral or axillary greenish or lurid-purple flow- 

 ers. Capsule coriaceous, 6-celled, septicidally 6-valved. Seeds numerous 



1, A, Serpenta'ria, L. Stem erect or ascending, flexuouse; leaves 

 fance-oblong, acuminate, entire, cordate (and sometimes auriculate) at 

 base ; peduncle sub-radical ; calyx-tube much bent. 



SNAKE-ROOT ARISTOLOCHIA. Virginia Snake-root. 



Root perennial, of numerous rather coarse fibres. Stem herbaceous, 9-15 inches high, 

 simple or branched from the base, slender, angular, pubescent, leafy above, nearly 

 naked or with small abortive leaves below. Leaves 2-4 or 5 inches long ; petioles one- 

 fourth of an inch to near an inch long. Flowers rather large, few or solitary, near the 

 base of the stem, and often concealed beneath dead leaves, on a flexuose bracteate pe- 

 duncle 1-2 inches in length. Calyx a dull purplish brown, subcoriaceous, angularly 

 bent, gibbous at the angle, the limb dilated and somewhat 3-lobcd. Capsule turbiuato 

 or roundish-obovoid, somewhat fleshy, pubescent. 



Rich woodlands : throughout the United States. Fl. June. Fr. July -August. 



Obs. This little plant is to be found in almost every woodland, where 

 the soil is good ; and its medicinal value, as an aromatic stimulant, ren- 

 ders it desirable that every person should know or be enabled to recog- 

 nize it. For this reason I have been induced to give it a placehere. 



Another species A. Sipho, L'Her., the Pipe Vine, or Dutchman's 

 Pipe, is a native of the West and South. It is a tall climber, and is 

 often cultivated as an ornamental vine. Its singularly curved flowers, 

 resembling a Dutch Pipe, are very interesting and curious, but the 



