Flora Medica

ARISTOLOCHIACE.ZE.704-. A. grandiflora Swartz prodr. 121. fl.ind. occ. iii. 1566.Willd. iv. 155. Mountain thickets in Jamaica.Stem twining, woody at the base. Leaves stalked, alternate, cordate,rather acute, entire, nerved, veiny, smooth on each side, 4-5 incheslong. Flowers solitary, axillary, very large. Calyx narrow and 6-angled at the base, downy externally ; above the base ventricose andcompressed ; in the middle contracted, round, angular ; higher upreflexed ; finally dilated into a large, ventricose, oblique limb, which isentire, somewhat cordate, flaccid, wavy, velvety purple, marked withwhite, terminated by a linear acuminate appendage a foot long. Thewhole plant emits a powerful narcotic unpleasant smell, which Swartzcompares to that of Chenopodium vulvaria. It is poisonous to hogs,according to the same author.704 a. A. cymbifera Mart. n. g. et. i.sp. 76. t. 49. Lindl. inHot. Reg. xviii. t. 1543 A. grandiflora Gomez in act. olyssip.1812. p. 64. c. ic. A. ringens Martins trav. Eng. ed. ii. 91. notof Vahl. Shady thickets in the province of S. Paul, and nearRio Janeiro.Stem twining, covered with a corky cracked bark. Leaves verylarge, cordate-reniform, smooth, with a very open sinus at the base,bordered by the bases of the lateral ribs. Flowers very large, yellowmixed and spotted with purple, hairy inside, with an obovate tube, andan abruptly reflected 2-lipped limb ; upper lip short, ovate, carinate,acute ;lower four times as long, inflated and cymbiform at the base,gradually extended into a broad, plaited, roundish, membranous extremity.The root, which has a very penetrating, disagreeable smell,like that of rue, and a strong, bitter, aromatic taste, produces almostentirely the same effects as the Virginia snake-root (A. serpentaria).It is very frequently used in Brazil against ulcers, paralytic affectionsof the extremities, dyspepsy, impotentia virilis, in nervous and intermittingfevers, especially those in which a predominant disorder of thepituitous membrane, or the whole lymphatic system has been observed,and, lastly, against the bites of serpents. According to Gomez, thepowdered root is given in doses of a scruple, from 4 to 6 times aday ; the decoction is ordered in doses of 4 to 6 ounces, and thejuice expressed from the leaves, of 1 or 2 drachms daily. Marlins'sTravels, ii. 91.704 b. A. macroura Gomez 1. c.Martius 1. c.p. 79. Woodsof Brazil. (Jarrinha.)Stem twining, smooth, angular, furrowed ; stipules reniform. Leavescordate at the base, 3-lobed. Peduncles 1 -flowered. Tube of thecalyx obovate; limb deflexed, cylindrical, enlarged at the throat,1-lipped ; lip cordate-deltoidal from the base, thrice as broad as thethroat, extended into a crenulated point above a foot long. Martins.The root and herb are similar in their effects to those of the last,but more potent.705. A. fragrantissima Ruiz in Lamb, cinch. 175. t. 4. Inthe woods of the Peruvian Andes. (Star reed.)A climbing shrub. Root fusiform, very long, as much as 6 inchesthick, greyish brown ;bark 1-4 lines thick ;wood radiated in a transversesection, whitish, easily separating into numerous flexible plates.342