SPERMATOPHYTA ARISTOLOCHIALES 



417 



ties; the Dutchman's pipe {Aristolochia -macro phylla) frequently cultivated and 

 hardly as far north as Minnesota and Wisconsin; the gooseplant (Aristolochia 

 grandi flora) of Brazil whose flowers emit an offensive odor, but in spite of this 

 fact the plant is cultivated in greenhouses; Virginia snakeroot (Aristolochia 

 Serpentaria) the root stock of which is used as a tonic and contains a volatile 

 oil borneol, a bitter poisonous principle aristolochin C 32 H 22 N 2 O 13 and the alka- 

 loid aristolochinin. The European (A. Clematitis) produces colic and othel 

 gastric disturbances and is listed among the pungent narcotic poisons. The sub- 

 stance asarin when heated is irritating. 



Fig. 197. Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia macro phylla). I^caf and 

 flower, dehiscent fruit. (After A. Faguet.) 



Several species cf the genus Aristolochia are used as antidotes against 

 snake-bites and this use is clearly indicated in some of the specific names, 

 as in Virginia snakeroot (A. Serpentaria). Other plants of the genus are said 

 to be poisonous, A.grandiflora being an example of this. The Arabs use A. 

 sempervirens and A. indica as snake poison antidotes. According to R. B. 

 White, the Guaco (A. mexicana) is a cure for snake-bites. Many other 

 plants are used for the same purpose, several composites being 

 well-known remedies. Among the latter are Liatris squarrosa, Cacalia tuberosa, 

 and Prenanthes alba. Other plants having the same qualities belong to the 

 families Ranwiculaceae, Orchidaceae, Violaceae, Polygalaceae, Liliaceae, Um- 

 belliferae, Filices, and Palmae. One has only to look through such works as 

 the Robinson and Gray's Manual, or Britton's Manual, or various old medical 

 works for the common names of plants with the word snake attached to them, to 

 understand how prevalent was the belief that these plants were antidotes against 

 the bite of venemous snakes. 



POLYGONALES 



Herbs, shrubs, or trees, often climbing vines; leaves alternate or occasion- 

 ally opposite; jointed stems; flowers small, regular, dioecious, monoecious or 

 polygamous; calyx 2-6 cleft or parted, inferior; stamens 2-9, inserted near tbe 



