ARISTOLO'CHIA* * 
Linncan Class and Order. GYNA'NDRlAf , Hexa'ndria. 
Natural Order. Aristolo'chi.-e, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 72. — Sm. 
Gram, of Bot. p. 85. — Lindl. Syn. p. 224. Introd. to Nat. Syst. p. 
72. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p.418 . — Asa'rina2, Link. — Loud. Hort. 
Brit. p. 533. 
Gen. Char. Calyx ( Corolla of Linn.) superior, of one leaf, tubu- 
lar, coloured, tumid, and nearly globose at the base, the mouth dilated 
on one side, and lengthened out into a strap-shaped lobe. Corolla 
none. Filaments none. Anthers (fig. 1.) six, sessile, and inserted 
round the base of the style ; vertical, each of two oblong, separated, 
parallel, bivalve cells. Germen (see fig. 1.) inferior, oblong, angu- 
lar. Style scarcely any. Stigma nearly globular, with 6 deep 
lobes; the summit concave. Capsule (fig. 3.) large, egg-shaped, 
6-angled, and 6-celled. Seeds (fig. 5.) many in each cell, flat, ho- 
rizontal, lying over each other, triangular, with a dilated or thickened 
margin. — The only genus in Gynandria Hexandria. 
One species British. 
ARISTOLO'CHIA CLEMATI'TIS. Common Birthwort. 
Spec. Char. Stem upright. Leaves heart-shaped, flowers 
crowded, upright, mouth of the calyx dilated on one side. 
Eng. Bot. t. 398.— Hook. FI. Lond. t. 149. — Linn. Sp. PI. p. 1364. — Iluds. 
FI. A ngl. (2nd edit.) p. 394. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. iii. p. 947. Kng. FI. v. iv. p 53. — 
Woodv. Med. Bot. t.238. — With. (7th cd.) v. ii. p. 462. — Lind. Syn. p. 225. — 
Hook. Brit. FI. p. 381. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 112. — Pua. Midi. FI. v. ii. p. 430. 
and v. iii. p. 380. — Relli. FI. Cant. (3id edit.) p. 368. — Walk. FI. Oxf. p. 260. — 
Aristolochia infesta, Gray's Nat. Arr. v. ii. p.262. — Aristolochia saracenica, 
Johnson’s Geraide, p. 847. — Aristolochia clematitis recta off. Blacks. Sp. 
Bot. p. 5. 
Localities. — In woods, thickets, pastures, &c. and especially among the 
ruins of nunneries. Very rare. — Oxfordshire ; Near the walls of Godstow 
Nunnery: Dr. Sibthorp, (1794). In the same place: (1833) W. B. Near 
Kencott: Rev. Dr. Goodenough. In the same place: (1833) Mr. H. Barrett. 
In the Garden Ground at Sir Alexander Croke’s, Studley Priory: Rev. R. 
Walker, in FI. of Oxf. — Berks ; Hedge near Windsor: Mr. Gotobf.d. — Cam- 
bridgeshire ; At Milton, and Whittlesford : Rev. R. Relhan. — Essex; In a 
wood two miles from Thorndon : Mr. Hill, in Blacks. Sp. Bot. — Kent ; Near 
Maidstone, and in other parts of the county : Mr. Hudson. — Norfolk; Among 
the ruins of Carrow Abbey, Norwich: Rev. C. Sutton, in Bot. Guide. — 
Suffolk; At Slurston near Diss : Mr. Woodward. 
Perennial. — Flowers from June to September. 
Root creeping, long, and slender, increasing very fast, and ren- 
dering the plant difficult of extirpation. Stem 2 or 3 feet high, up- 
right, simple, round, striated, leafy, somewhat zigzag, especially in 
the upper part ; not climbing. Leaves rather coriaceous (leathery), 
alternate, heart-shaped, with a wide space at the base, entire, blunt, 
shining above ; pale green, smooth, and veiny beneath, with pedate 
Fig. 1. Germen, Stamens, and Stigma, magnified. — Fig. 2. The summit of 
the Stigma.— Fig. 3. Unripe Capsule, natural size.— Fig. 4. Transverse section 
of the same. — Fig. 5. A Seed. 
* From Aristos, Gr. best, and lochereo, Gr. to bring forth ; in allusion to 
its supposed virtues. 
t See O'phrys Apifera, folio 8, (2nd ed.) note t- 
