726 



THE AR1ST0L0CHIA FAMILY. 



LXV. THE ARISTOLOCHIA FAMILY. ARISTOLO- 



chiace^e. 



Herbs, or, in exotic species, tall climbers, with alternate leaves, 

 and often leafy stipules ; the flowers brown or greenish. Perianth 

 combined with the ovary at the base, either 3-lobed or very irre- 

 gular. Stamens usually 6 or 12, inserted on the summit of the ovary 

 within the perianth. Ovary and fruit inferior, 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 warmer 

 districts. The principal genus, Aristolochia, remarkable for the tubu- 

 lar perianth, often curved, terminating in an oblique, entire limb, is 

 not British ; but the tall, climbing A. si/pho, and some other species, 

 are often cultivated in our gardens ; and the A. elematitis (Eng. Bot. 

 t. 398), from southern Europe, has been occasionally found in stony, 

 rubbishy places in some parts of England, where it has strayed from 

 gardens. It is an erect perennial, of about 1\ feet, with broadly cor- 

 date leaves, and slender, yellowish-green flowers clustered in their 



I. AS ARUM. ASAKTTM. 



Perianth campanulate, regular, 3-cleft. Stamens 12. 

 A genus of very few species, dispersed over Europe, temperate Asia, 

 and North America. 



1. Common Asarum. Asarum europseum, Linn. (Pig. 876.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 1083. Asarabacca.) 



A low perennial, with a shortly creep- 

 ing rootstock, and very short, incon- 

 spicuous 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, recurved stalk ; 

 the perianth divided to the middle into 

 3 broad, pointed lobes. 



In woods and shady places, in central 

 and southern Europe and temperate 

 Russian Asia, extending northwards into 

 southern Scandinavia. Hare in Britain, 

 but believed to be a true native in a few 

 localities in the north of England and in 

 Wiltshire. Fl. May, 



Fig. 876. 



