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ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS. 
hairy petioles; flower solitary, growing from the fork of the 
stem on a pendulous hairy peduncle. Calyx very hairy or 
woolly, consisting of three broad concave leaflets, which are 
mostly of a brownish or dull purple on the inside, at top and 
bottom, and terminated by a long spreading inflected point, 
with reflexed sides. The color varies greatly according to 
the amount of light which the plant enjoys, being sometimes 
nearly green. Stamens twelve, inserted on the germ at a 
distance from the calyx; the alternate ones longer. Anthers 
growing to the filaments below their extremity. Near the 
divisions of the calyx are three short, curved, filamentary 
substances, which may, perhaps, be called nectaries. Germ 
inferior, somewhat hexagonal, marked at top, inside, with a 
dark red line; style conical, striate, parted at top into six- 
recurved, radiating stigmas. — Bigelow. 
Synonyms. — Jisarum latifolium, Salisb.; Jisarum foliis 
sub-cordatis petiolatis, Gronovius; Jisarum Carulinianum, 
Walt. 
The popular names by which it is known are, wild ginger, 
Indian ginger, coltsfoot, Canada snake-root, American asara- 
bacca, and kidney-leaved asarabacca. 
Habitat. — This plant has been found in all parts of this 
country, from Canada to Carolina, usually in low rich woods 
where the soil is moist, and sometimes on the sides of shady 
mountains; in such localities it attains its extreme size, and 
possesses in the highest degree the characters for which it 
is remarkable. The time of flowering is during the first 
warm months. 
The root alone affords the officinal drug which is known 
by the title "Asarum," U. S. It is prepared by removal 
from the ground during the summer, washing off the earthy 
particles, and then drying by exposure in the shade. By 
this process the radicles, from their delicacy, are separated. 
When fresh, these last, as well as the body of the root, are of 
a yellowish color. 
As found in the shops, it appears in the form of long, more 
or less contorted pieces, about the thickness of a straw, or 
