268 



T^'EEDS AXD TSEFUL PLA:^7T3. 



DITISIOX in. 



APET'ALOUS EX'OGEXS. 



Corolla none ; tlie floral envelopes being in a single series (calyx), or 

 sometimes wanting altogether. 



Order LYI. AEISTOLOCHIA'CE^. (BiEimvoRT Familt.) 



Herlis or shrulhy ]ilants, — sometimes nearly sfe?7iZess, sometimes tvAning and dimming; 

 leaves alternate, simple, entire, more or less cordate at base, petiolate, otten with leaf-like 

 stipules; calyx-tube more or less coherent with the ovary, — the torder mostly 3-lohed, 

 valvatc in the bud ; stamens 6-12, more or less united with the style ; anthers adnate, ex- 

 trorse ; cn-a?-!/ mostly 6-celled ; /rwii a many-seeded 6-celled pod'or berry ; seeds ^nth a 

 large raphe and a minute embryo in a fleshy albumen. 



1. AEISTOLO'CniA, Tournef. Birthwort. 



[A Greek name, — having reference to the medical virtues of the plant.] 



Calyx colored, tubular, — the lower portion adherent to the oyary, yen- 

 tricose above the ovary, straiglit or curved ; limb oblique, 2 - 3-lobed, 

 — the lower lobe somewhat ligulate or exteaded to a lip. Stamens 6 ; 

 the sessile anthers wholly adnate to the back of the short and fleshy 

 3-6-lobed or angled stigma. Capsule naked, 6-valved. Erect or 

 twining j^erennials with lateral or axillary greenish or lurid-purple flow- 

 ers. Capsule coriaceous, 6-celled, septicidally 6-valved. Seeds numerous 



1, A, Serpenta'ria, L. Stem erect or ascending, flexuouse ; leaves 

 lance-oblong, acuminate, entire, cordate (and sometimes auriculate) at 

 base ; peduncle sub-radical ; calyx-tube much bent. 



SxAKE-ROOT Aristolochia. Virginia Snake-root, 



Boot perennial, of numerous rather coarse fibres. Stem herbaceous. 9-15 inches high, 

 simple or branched from the base, slender, anguiar, pubescent, leafy above, nearly 

 naked or with small abortive leaves below. Leaves 2-4 or 5 inches long : petioles one- 

 fourth of an inch to near an inch long. Flowers rather large, few or solitary, near the 

 base of the stem, and often concealed beneath dead leaves, on a flexuose bra'cteate pe- 

 duncle 1-2 inches in length. Calyx a dull purplish brown, subcoriaceous, angularly 

 bent, gibbous at the angle, — ^the hmb dilated and somewhat 3-lobed. Capsule turbinate 

 or roundish-obovoid, somewhat fleshy, pubescent. 



Rich woodlands : throughout the United States. Fl. June. Fr. July -August. 



Obs. This littls plant is to be found in almost every woodland, where 

 the soil is good ; and its medicinal value, as an aromatic stimulant, ren- 

 ders it desirable that every person should know or be enabled to recog- 

 nize it. For this reason I have been induced to give it a place here. 



Another species A. Sipho, L'Her., the Pipe Vine, or Diitchman'a 

 Pipe, is a native of the ATest and South. It is a tall climber, and ia 

 often cultivated as an ornamental vine. Its singularly curved flowers, 

 resembling a Dutch Pipe, are very interesting and curious, but the 



