ASARUM 
107 
I. tASARUM EUROPAEUM. Asarabacca. Plate 113 
Asarum Gerard Herb. 688 [bis] (159 7 )\ Ray Syn. ed. 5, 158 (1724); Asarum vulgare Parkinson Theatr . 
Bot. 266 (1640). 
Asarum europaeum L. Sp. PI. 442 (1753) ! ; 
Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 90 (1868); Rouy FI. France xii, 
296 (1910) ; Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 679. 
leones : — FI. Dan. t. 633 ; Smith Eng. Bot. t. 
1083; Reichenbach Icon, xii, 668, fig. 1339. 
Camb. Brit. FI. ii. Plate 113. (a) Flowering 
plant, (b) Flower, with portion of perianth removed. 
(e) Upper portion of ovary (enlarged), (d) Trans- 
verse section of ovary (enlarged). ( e ) Stamen 
(enlarged). Hort., origin Westmorland (F. J. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 450; Fries, xi, 55; v. 
Heurck et Martinis, vii, 333 ; Thielens et Devos, 
iv, 383 ; Herb. FI. Ingric. iv, 549. 
Geophilous, perennial herb, more or less 
hairy. Roots fibrous. Rhizome much branched, 
spreading quickly, odour strong. Aerial stems 
short, terete, each with 2 leaves. Petioles very 
much longer than the laminae. Laminae reni- 
form, cordate at the base, entire or nearly so, 
about 3 — 4 cm. long and 6 — 8 broad. Flowers 
terminal, solitary, with a resinous odour. 
Perianth campanulate, segments incurved at 
first but straightening later, purplish, tinged 
with green on the outside, of a darker purple 
inside. Style furrowed. Stigmas large. Capsule 
subglobose. Seeds 00 to each loculus, obovate. 
The irregular occurrence of this plant in Great Britain (see Map 16) is perhaps explained by supposing that the plant 
is not indigenous here, since native species, especially shade-preferring plants whose habitats are widespread and of common 
occurrence, have usually a more definite area of distribution than is the case with Asarum europaeum. The plant was 
formerly cultivated as a simple. Once introduced into a suitable station, it spreads rapidly by means of its rhizomes, 
though in some localities, e.g., in a wood near Halifax where it was formerly abundant, this power of rapidly spreading has 
been unable to hold its own against the rapacity of herbalists and other collectors. 
Local, in woods and other shady places, from Devonshire and Suffolk to central Scotland ; a relic of 
cultivation usually, and perhaps not indigenous anywhere in Great Britain ; not recorded for Ireland. 
Southern Scandinavia (? indigenous), France, Germany, southern Europe, central and southern Russia, central 
Europe; Caucasus; Ural district. Ascends to 1400 m. in Vallis, Switzerland (Jaccard) and 1800 m. in Herze- 
govina (Handel-Mazzetti). 
Tribe 2. *ARISTOLOCHIEAE 
Aristolochieae Meisner Plant. Vase. Gen. 334 (1841) ; Solereder in Pflanzenfam. iii, pt. i, 271 et 272 
(1894); Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 680 (1912). 
For characters, see page 106. Only British genus: — *Aristolochia. 
Genus 2. # Aristolochia 
Aristolochia [Tournefort Inst. 162, t. 71 (1719)] L. Sp. PI. 960 (1753) et Gen. PI. ed. 5, 410 (1754); 
Solereder in Engler und Prantl Pflanzenfam. iii, pt. i, 272 (1894); Ascherson und Graebner Syn. iv, 680 (1912). 
Lianes or perennial herbs with rhizomes. Laminae usually simple and cordate, rarely lobed, 
stipule-like leaf. Inflorescence solitary. Perianth with tube dilated at the base, contracted above 
the base, dilated and obliquely 1 — 2 lipped at the top, hairy inside. Stamens usually 6, rarely 
4 or more than 6, in a single whorl, adnate to the style. Anthers subsessile ; connectives 
14 — 2 
