390 THE ARISTOLOCHIA FAMILY. [Asarum. 
Perianth combined with the ovary at the base, either 3-lobed 
or very irregular. Stamens usually 6 or 12, inserted on the 
summit of the ovary within the perianth. Ovary and fruit in- 
ferior, 3- or 6-celled, with several seeds in each cell. Albumen 
fleshy, with a minute embryo. 
A small family, widely spread over the globe, chiefly in the tropics. 
The principal genus, Aristolochia, remarkable for the tubular perianth, 
often curved, terminating in an oblique, entire limb, is not British; but 
the tall, climbing A. Szpho, and some other species, are cultivated in our 
gardens ; and A. Clematitis (Eng. Bot. t. 398), from southern Europe, 
has been found in some parts of England, as an escape from gardens. 
It is an erect perennial, of about 13 feet, with broadly cordate leaves, 
and slender, yellowish-green flowers ‘clustered i in their axils. 
I, ASARUM. ASARUM. 
Perianth campanulate, regular, 3-cleft. Stamens 12, 
A genus of very few species, dispersed over Europe, temperate Ae 
and North America. 
1. A. europzeum, Linn. (fig. 884). Asarabacca.—A low perennial, 
with a shortly creeping rootstock, and very short, inconspicuous stems. 
Leaves usually 2 only, almost radical, on long stalks, orbicular-cordate 
or kidney-shaped, 1 to 2 or even 3 inches broad. Between them is a 
single greenish-brown flower, about half an inch long, on a short, re- 
curved stalk ; the perianth divided to the middle into 3 broad, pointed 
lobes. 
In woods and shady places, in central and southern Europe and tem- 
perate Russian Asia, extending northwards into southern Scandinavia. 
Rare in Britain, but believed to be a true native in a few localities in 
the north of England and in Wiltshire. Fl. May. 
LXVIIL EUPHORBIACEH. THE SPURGE FAMILY, 
Herbs, shrubs, or trees, much varied in foliage and inflores- 
cence. Flowers always unisexual, with or without a perianth. 
Stamens various. Ovary consisting of 3 (rarely 2 or more 
than 3) united carpels, each with 1 or 2 pendulous ovules, 
Styles as many as carpels, entire or divided. In the fruit these 
carpels separate from each other and from a persistent axis, and 
usually open with elasticity in 2 valves. Seed with a large 
embryo usually enclosed in fleshy albumen. 
A vast family, chiefly tropical, so varied in aspect that no general 
idea can be formed of it from the three genera which represent it in 
Britain, nor is the connection between these three genera easily under- 
stood without a comparison with intermediate exotic forms. The 
structure of the ovary and fruit is peculiar to this family ati 
unisexual plants. 
