AEISTOLOCHIA 



BIRTHWOBT ORDER 



ARISTOLOCHIA 773 



long. Flowers in May, i in. across, 

 greenish-purple, with incurved lobes. 

 Culture dc. as above. 



A. virginicum. — A native of Virginia, 

 about 9 in. high, with smooth, thick, 

 leathery, bluntly heart-shaped leaves, the 

 upper surface of which is mottled with 

 white. Flowers in April and May, dark 

 purple-brown. 



Culture dc. as above. 



ARISTOLOCHIA (Birthwort ; 

 Dutchman's Pipe). — A genus of ever- 

 green or deciduous climbing or erect 

 shrubs with tuberous rootstocks and 

 alternate, often stalked entire or 3-5-lobed 

 leaves, often cordate at the base and 5-7- 

 nerved. Peduncles axillary, 1-flowered, 

 solitary, clustered, or shortly racemose. 

 Perianth adnate to the base of the ovary, 

 with a linear oblong or ovoid curved or 

 straight tube, distinctly jointed above the 

 ovary, expandmg above into an oblique 

 more or less spreading entire 1-2-lipped, 

 3-lobed, or 1-3-tailed limb. Stamens 6, 

 rarely 4, or 10 or more, adhering to the 

 stigma. Ovary inferior. Fruit a 6-valved 

 many-seeded capsule. 



Culture and Propagation. — This 

 genus contains about 180 species, but 

 most of those in cultivation require to be 

 grown in hothouses. The kinds described 

 below are suitable for the outdoor garden 

 in ordinary good soil, and may be increased 

 by seeds sown in spring in gentle heat, 

 or by cuttings of the ripened shoots 

 inserted in sandy soil under glass in a 

 little heat in late summer and autumn. 



A. Clematitis. — An herbaceous Euro- 

 pean perennial about 2 ft. high, now found 

 naturalised in parts of England, and 

 having broadly heart-shaped obtuse leaves 

 3-6 in. long, glaucous beneath. Flowers 

 from June to September, 4-8 in a cluster, 

 about 1 in. across, yellow, with a slender 

 curved tube. 



Culture dc. as above. May be grown 

 in rough parts of the garden or rockery, 

 among ruins &o. 



A. elegans. — A beautiful Brazilian 

 climber, with broad blunt ovate heart- 

 shaped leaves on slender stalks. Flowers 

 in August and September, solitary on long 

 stalks; tube pale greenish-yellow, about 

 2 in. long, the broad heart-shaped limb 

 3-4 in. across, creamy yeUow, heavily 

 blotched with rich purple-brown and 

 having a deep rich velvety crimson band 

 around the throat. 



Culture wnd Propagation. — This 

 species since its introduction in 1883 has 

 always been grown in greenhouses, but in 

 1899 1 saw specimens which had flowered 

 out of doors in a Surrey garden. This 

 species seeds freely, and may be raised 

 annually in early spring in heat. By 

 June the young plants may be placed 

 outside to cover a trellis, arbour, tree- 

 stump &e., in warm sunny localities. It 

 certainly ought to flourish out of doors as 

 a tender annual in the south of England 

 and Ireland, and if it wiU only do so, the 

 outdoor garden will be enriched by the 

 addition of one of the most beautiful of 

 free-flowering cUmbers. 



A. Sipho. — A North American climber 

 with twining stems 15-30 ft. long, having 

 heart-shaped acute leaves. Flowers in 

 May and June, yellowish-brown, with a 

 curved tube and a flat equally 3-lobed 

 limb. 



Culture dc. as above. Useful for 

 covering walls, bowers, old tree-stumps, 



A. tomentosa. — Another N. American 

 climber with heart-shaped leaves downy 

 beneath. Flowers in July and August, 

 purple ; tube twisted back with a flat 

 expanded yellow limb. 



Culture dc. as above. May be used 

 like A. Sipho. 



XCVII. PIPERACEiE— Pepper Order 



An order of herbs, shrubs, or trees with alternate or rarely opposite or 

 whorled, entire or very rarely 3-cleft, 3- or more nerved leaves. Flowers 

 small, often minute, hermaphrodite or 1-sexed. Perianth, except in one 

 genus, none. Stamens 2-6, or very rarely 7-8 or 1, hypogynous, usually 

 with free filaments. 



