GYNANDIUA POLYANDRIA "5f5 



style. Ovary inferior ; stigma subscssile, G-parted. Capsule 6-angled ? 

 6-celIed, many-seeded. 



Herbaceous, or shrubby : stem erect, or twining ; leaves alternate, mostly cordate 

 and entire, rarely 3-lobed ; flowers sub-radical, or axillary. Nat. Ord. 62. Lindl. 

 Aristolochls. 



1. A. serpextaria, L. Stem erect, flexuose ; leaves cordate-oblong, 

 acuminate ; peduncles sub-radical ; lip of the perianth lanceolate. 

 BeckiBot.p. 309. 

 Svake-root Aristolochia. Vulgo — Virginia Snake-root. 



Root perennial, of numerous rather coarse fibres. Stem herbaceous, 9 to IS 

 inches high, simple, or branched from the base, erector somewhat leaning, slender, 

 angular, pubescent, nearly naked, or with small abortive leaves below, leafy 

 above. Leaves 2 to 5 inches long, and 3 fourths of an inch to 2 and a half inches 

 wide, lance-oblong, acuminate, entire, cordate at base, sometimes auriculately 

 produced, somewhat pubescent; petioles 1 fourth of an inch to near an inch long. 

 Flowers rather large, few, at the base of the stem, often concealed under dead 

 leaves, on flexuose braclcnlc peduncles 1 to 2 inches in length ; bracts small, ovate, 

 alternate. Perianth a dull purplish brown, subcoriaceous, pubescent, tubular, 

 fontricose at base, angularly bent, gibbous at the angle, the limb dilated and 

 somewhat 3-lobed. Capsule turbinate, or roundish-obovoid, large (half an inch 

 to 3 quarters in length), somewhat succulent, pubescent. Seeds of a tawny ash- 

 color, obovoid, somewhat compressed, slightly keeled or ribbed near each margin, 

 luberculate-dotted, open or concave on one side, with a central ridge in the cavity 

 Hob. Rich woodlands: frequent. Fl. June. FY. July— August. 



Obi. The fibrous root of this is a well known and very valuable aromatic stim- 

 nlus. I have specimens, collected in Londongrove by Wm. Jackson, Esq. which 

 are more pubescent, with the leaves subhastate-sagittate, or more conspicuously 

 auriculate at base, and which may belong to the A. sagittata, Muhl. or A. hastata, 

 Nuttall;— though I have some doubts whether they are really more than a variety. 

 Two or threo additional species are known in the U. States. 



Order 4. Polyandria. 



413. AS ARUM. L. Mutt. Gen. 724. 

 [Said to bo from the Gr. a, not, & Seira, a bandage ; not being used in garlands.] 



Peiianth sub-campanulate, mostly 3-parted, persistent. Stamens 

 mostly 12, inserted on the ovary ; anthers adnate to the middle of the 

 filaments. Ovary inferior ; style short ; stigma stellate, G-cleft. Cap- 

 9u!e 6-celled, many-seeded. 



Herbaceous : root creeping; stem very short, often bifoliate, producing a solitary 

 dichotomal flower. Nat. Ord. 62. Lindl. Aristolochijb. 



1. A, caxadexse, L. Leaves a terminal pair, broad-reniform ; peri- 

 with woolly externally, 3-parted, the segments sublanceolate, mostly 

 reflexed. Beck, BoU p. 309. 



Cajadiaw Asarum. Vulgd— WUd Ginger. ColtVfoot 

 Root perennial, fibrous, thrown out from a creeping fleshy rhizoma or subter 

 ranean stem. Stem scarcely any, or very ahort, aaaurgent, terminating in a pair 

 •T leaves which are 2 to 4 inches long, and 3 to 5 inches wide, reniform, sometimes 

 ♦ousel; poinud, entire, somewhat pubescent, of a glossy velvety-green abovt, on 



