102 BOTANY. 
albumen ; cotyledons inconspicuous; radicle next the hilum. Herbs or 
shrubs, often climbing, with alternate, simple, often stipulate leaves, and soli- | 
tary axillary flowers. Found in abundance in the warm regions of South 
America, and growing also in the temperate and cold regions of Europe, Asia, 
and America. There are eight known genera and 130 species. Examples: 
Asarum, Aristolochia, Heterotropa. 
Aesrahabien of the Pharmacopeeia consists of the dried leaves of Asarum 
europeum. A. canadense is known as wild ginger. Aristolochia serpentaria 
or Virginia snake root, is a valuable medicine. It is to be distinguished from 
the seneca snake root, Polygala senega. Aristolochia sipho, a well-known 
North American plant, is called Dutchman’s pipe, from the grotesque simili- 
tude of its leaves. Species of this genus were formerly considered efficacious 
in certain uterine affections. The flowers of some Aristolochias are remarka- 
ble for their size and beauty. 
Aristolochia clematitis, Birthwort, a highly poisonous species of central 
Europe. PI. 58, 59, fig. 10: @ rhizome, with the lower part of the stem ; 
b, upper part of the plant; c, flower enlarged, partly in section; d, cross- 
section of the flower; e, do. of ovary; f, seed vessel in longitudinal section ; 
g,a seed; h and i, do. in transverse and longitudinal sections; k, embryo 
magnified. 
A. serpentaria, Virginia snake root (pl. 58, 59, fig. 12); @ the entire plant ; 
b, a seed. 
A. sipho, Dutchman’s pipe, United States (pl. 58, 59, fig. 11). 
Orver 61. SanrTaLtace#, the Sandalwood Family. Herbs, shrubs, or 
trees, with entire leaves ; the four- to five-cleft calyx valvate in the bud, its 
tube coherent with the one-celled ovary, which contains two to four ovules 
(consisting of a cellular nucleus, destitute of any proper integument) suspend- 
ed from the apex of a stalk-like free central placenta which rises from the 
base of the cell, but the (indehiscent) fruit always one-seeded. Embryo small, 
at the apex of copious albumen; radicle directed upwards ; cotyledons cylin- 
drical. Stamens equal in number to the lobes of the calyx, and inserted op- 
posite them into the edge of the fleshy disk at their base. Style one. Found 
in Europe, Asia, America, and New Holland. 
Sandalwood, a highly fragrant wood, is derived from Santalum album and 
other Indian and Polynesian species. North American species of this family 
are Comandra umbellata (Toad Flax) and Pyrularia oleifera or Buffalo nut, 
common in the southern United States. Santalum myrtifolium, sandalwood 
(Java) (pl. 69, fig. 8). 
Orper 62. Nyssace#, the Tupelo Family. This differs from the San- 
talaceze in the solitary ovule suspended from the top of the cell. This family 
is represented in the United States by the sole genus Nyssa, composed of 
trees remarkable for the adhesion of their fibres, it being almost impossible to 
split a block of the wood. The naves of carriage wheels are usually made of 
the wood of Nyssa multiflora, or Gum tree. Southern species are known as 
Tupelo, Ogeechee lime, &c., the latter term, however, being applied more cor- 
rectly to the fruit, which is in great request as a preserve. 
Orper 63. Homaniace#, the Homalia Family. Perianth funnel-shaped, 
102 
