THE BIRTHWORT TRIBE. 189 



species, instead of hats, and Brazilian kinds have been 

 discovered of scarcely a smaller size. 



These plants are brought to my recollection, by a 

 quantity of blossoms of Aristolochia trilobata, the 

 long-tailed Blrthwort, that some unknown friend has 

 just sent me from her hothouse. With this letter you 

 will receive a portion of them, which we will proceed 

 to examine systematically (Plate XLVI. 1.). We 

 will take no notice of its twining stem, nor of its 

 leaves, for these organs vary so much in different 

 species, as to form no part of the distinctive characters 

 of the order, but w^e will confine ourselves to the fruc- 

 tification. 



The flower is a long tubular calyx, strongly veined 

 and ribbed, curved back in the middle, so much as 

 almost to be bent double, pale, livid, brownish-yellow 

 externally, and deep chocolate browTi in the inside, 

 and at the upper end (fy. 1.). At the lower end it 

 is inflated ; and at the very base it is extended into 

 six little horns or spurs (fig. 1. c. Scjig. 2. b.). At 

 the upper end it is very much dilated and puckered ; 

 on one side (Jig. 1. e.) it is deeply notched ; on the 

 opposite side it is extended into a flat, twisted strap, 

 thirteen or fourteen inches long, which, when the 

 flowers are on their branches, hangs down like the 

 tail of some animal ; one might even fancy it belonged 

 to a mouse, whose body was secreted in the cup of 

 the flower. This curious calyx is quite at variance 

 with any thing, however irregular in structure it may 

 be, that we meet with in the same part, in the rest 

 of the veofetable kino^dom. Botanists seemed "fcnerallv 



