Page:An illustrated flora of the Pacific States (vol. 1).djvu/556

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BIRTHWORT FAMILY
535

1. ÁSARUM [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 442. 1753.

Acaulescent perennial herbs, with aromatic creeping rootstocks bearing 2 or 3 scales and thick fleshy roots. Leaves basal, long-petioled, cordate, mostly ovate or orbicular. Flowers solitary large, borne in the lower axils very near the ground on a short peduncL'. Calyx regu- lar, 3-cleft or 3-parted, campanulate. Stamens 12, with short stout filaments, fhe connectives of the anthers prolonged into a point. Capsule rather fleshy, crowned by the persistent calyx, globose, bursting irregularly or loculicidally dehiscent; seeds large, compressed. [The ancient name, of obscure derivation.] About 20 species, natives of the North Temperate Zone. Besides the following, 4 others occur in extreme 'eastern North America. Type species, Asariim europaeum L. Calyx-lobes long-attenuate. Terminal appendages longer than the pollen-sacs. 1. A- hartwegi. Terminal appendages much shorter than the pollen-sacs. 2. A. caudatiim. Calyx-lobes obtuse or merely acute, not attenuate. 3. A. lemmoni.

1. Asarum hartwegi S. Wats.

Asaniin hookeri major Ducharte, in DC. Prodr. 15': 424. 1864. Asarum hartzvegi S. Wats. Proc. Am. Acad. 10: 463. 1875. Asarum major Coville, Contr. Nat. Herb. 4 : 192. 1893. Rootstock often much branched and tufted, rather stout. Leaves evergreen, cor- date with large rounded auricles, 5-15 cm. long, and nearly as broad, usually acute, glabrous and mottled above or rarely sparsely pubescent on the veins, the mar- gins ciliate ; petioles floccose ; peduncles stout, 15-25 mm. long; calyx brownish pur- ple, floccose without, pubescent within, the tube wholly adnate to the ovary, about 12 mm. broad, the lobes ovate, narrowed to an elongated linear apex, 25-65 mm. long; the prolonged free apex of the connective as long or twice as long as the anther; styles shorter than the stamens, nearly distinct ; seeds ovate, 4 mm. long. Coniferous forests. Arid Transition Zone; Sis- kiyou Mountains, southern Oregon to the southern Sierra Nevada, not found in the California Coast Ranges. Type locality: central Sierra Nevada, probably on the American River. Hartweg's Wild Ginger. Fig. 1296.

2. Asarum caudatum Lindl. Long-tailed Wild Ginger. Fig. 1297.

Asarum caudatum Lindl. Bot. Reg. 17 : under pi. 1399. 1831. Asarum hookeri Field. & Gardn. Sert. Plant. 1: pi. 32. 1844. Rootstocks slender, elongated, branching. Leaves 2 at a node, cordate-reniform, evergreen, 4-12 cm. long, acute or acutish or sometimes obtuse, dark green above and sparingly short- pubescent at least on the veins ; petioles floccose- woolly to glabrous; peduncles slender, 15-30 mm. long; calyx brownish purple, floccose woolly to nearly glabrous without, purplish pu- bescent within; calyx-tube entirely adnate to the ovary, about 1 cm. broad; calyx-lobes oblong, more or less long-attenuate, 25-85 mm. long; the prolonged apex of the connective much shorter than the anther; styles united, equalling the stamen; seeds ovate, 3 mm. long. Moist shaded woods. Transition Zone; British Columbia and Idaho south to the Blue Mountains, and in the Coast Ranges to the Santa Cruz Mountains, California. Type locality: Fort Vancouver, Wash- ington.