Aristolochia. 



ARISTOLOCHIACEiE. 



131 



sessile. Style short and fleshy : stigma irregularly lobed and waved, thick, projecting over 

 the anthers. Capsule three-fourths of an inch long, roundish -obovoid, 6-angled. Seeds 

 compressed, horizontal. 



Woods, in rich soil ; not common. Fl. June. Fr. August. This well known plant has 

 long been celebrated for its medicinal powers, and is used by physicians in most parts of the 

 world. It is stimulant, tonic and diaphoretic. (See Bigeloiv, I. c. ; also Wood Bache's 

 U. S. Dispens. p. 607. 



2. ASARUM. Tourn.; Linn. (excl. spec); A. Gray in Sill. jour. 42. p. 18. asarabacca. 



[ From the Greek, a, not, and scira, a band ; because it was rejected from the garlands of flowers employed by the 



ancients.] 



Calyx campanulate ; the limb 3-parted. Stamens 12 : filaments subulate, free or somewhat 

 united to the base of the style : anthers short, extrorse ; the connective produced into a 

 long subulate point. Ovary adhering to the calyx : styles united into a thick column, 6- 

 lobed at the summit : stigmas papillose. — Rhizoma creeping, aromatic, throwing up short 

 branches, each bearing two long-petioled cordate -reniform leaves, with a one -flowered 

 peduncle in the fork of the petioles. 



]. Asarum Canadense, Linn. (Plate XGII.) Wild Ginger. Coltsfoot. 



Stamens adhering to the lower part of the style. — Linn. sp. 1. p. 442; Michx. fl. 1. 

 p. 279 ; Pursh,fl. 1. p. 596 ; Ell. sk. I. p. 531 ; Bigel. med. hot. t. 15, andfl. Bost. p. 187; 

 Torr. compend. p. 324 ; Beck, hot. p. 309 ; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 515 ; A. Gray, I. c. 



Rhizoma about the thickness of a goosequill, branching, jointed, throwing out numerous 

 fibrous roots. Leaves usually two at the extremity of each branch, spreading, 2-4 inches 

 long, the breadth somewhat greater than the length, very obtuse or sometimes with a blunt 

 point, pubescent on both sides : petioles 4-8 inches long, hairy. Flower on a peduncle 

 about an inch long, often partly buried in the ground or concealed by dead leaves. Calyx 

 dull purplish brown internally, woolly and yellowish green externally ; the tube closely ad- 

 hering to the ovary : limb deeply 3-parted ; the lobes broad, with a slender acumination ; the 

 margins and finally the lobes also revolute. Stamens about the length of the style : filaments 

 broadly linear, smooth : anther-cells oblong, distinct ; the subulate point of the connective 

 produced beyond the cells. Stigmas linear-oblong, purplish, recurved. Capsule ovoid, woolly, 

 crowned with the calyx-lobes. Seeds ovoid, with a large fleshy raphe. 



Shady woods, in rich soil. Fl. May. Fr. July. The root is a popular medicine. It is 

 aromatic, and has somewhat the taste of ginger. (See Wood Bache, U. S. Disp. p. 116.) 



17* 



