Aristolochia indica

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Description

Family Aristolochiaceae

Herbs, shrubs , rarely lianas, subshrubs , or trees ; root , stems, and leaves with oil cells . Leaves alternate; stipules absent; petiole usually present and well defined; leaf blade simple , usually pinnately veined, sometimes palmately 3-5-veined, margin usually entire, rarely 3-5-lobed. Inflorescences terminal or axillary , racemes , cymes, or corymbs, or flowers solitary. Flowers bisexual , zygomorphic or actinomorphic . Perianth usually with 1 petaloid whorl (in Saruma with 2 whorls: outer one sepaloid , inner one petaloid), mostly connate into distinct tube , cylindric to campanulate or subglobose; limb rotate, urceolate , cylindric, or ligulate , 1-3-lobed; lobes valvate . Stamens 6-12 (in China), in 1 or 2 series; filaments adnate to ovary (in Asarum) or style column (in Thottea) with anthers free , or filaments and anthers fully adnate to style column to form gynostemium (in Aristolochia) ; anthers 2-loculed, dehiscence longitudinal . Ovary inferior to superior, 6-loculed (in Thottea 4-loculed) ; carpels connate only at base or fully fused; ovules numerous , anatropous , usually in 1 or 2 series; placentation parietal . Styles free or connate, column 3- or 6-lobed (in Thottea 5-20-lobed) . Fruit a fleshy or dry capsule, rarely siliquiform or follicular . Seeds many; testa somewhat hard or crustaceous ; endosperm copious , fleshy; embryo minute.

About eight genera and 450 600 species: primarily in tropical and subtropical regions; four genera (one endemic) and 86 species (69 endemic) in China.[1]

Genus Aristolochia

Herbs or lianas, perennial . Stems erect , twining , or procumbent . Leaves alternate, 2-ranked (evident on young growth, becoming obscure with age in some species) ; true stipules absent; pseudostipules absent [present]; petiole sometimes very short. Leaf blade membranous to leathery. Inflorescences on new growth or on older stems, axillary , racemes or solitary flowers; bracts present. Flowers: calyx usually mixture of purple, brown, green, or red, bilaterally symmetric , tubular , usually bent or curved , 1- or 3-lobed, not fleshy , base with utricle (basal, inflated portion of calyx surrounding or containing gynostemium ) ; tube narrowed, sometimes extended proximally as cylindric syrinx (tubular or ringlike structure at juncture of tube and utricle, projecting into utricle cavity) and distally as annulus (circular flange at juncture of tube and limb) on limb; corolla absent; stamens 5-6, adnate to styles and stigmas, forming gynostemium; ovary inferior, 3-, 5-, or 6-locular; styles 3, 5, or 6, connate in column. Capsule dry, dehiscent . Seeds flattened or rounded , sometimes winged . x = 6, 7, 8.

Species ca. 300: nearly worldwide.

Most European and tropical species of Aristolochia are believed to be pollinated by small flies attracted to the flowers by the fetid odors and purple-brown color. Flies enter the flower when the stigmas are receptive and are trapped until after the anthers dehisce (H. Solereder 1889, 1889b). No formal studies of pollination of the North American species have been reported.

Many species of Aristolochia have been used in the treatment of snakebite; the treatment may or may not be effective. All species contain aristolochic acid , which is variously reported as tumor-causing or tumor-inhibiting (J. A. Duke 1985).

The leaves of many species are eaten by pipe-vine swallowtail butterflies. The larvae eat leaves of these species and sequester aristolochic acid in their bodies, making them unpalatable to birds (W. H. Howe 1975).[2]

Taxonomy

Notes

Publishing author : L. Publication : Sp. Pl. 960.

An accepted name in the RHS Horticultural Database.

Similar Species

Members of the genus Aristolochia

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 40 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:

A. anguicida (Harlequin Dutchman's Pipe) · A. baetica (Birthwort) · A. bilabiata (West Indian Dutchman's Pipe) · A. bilobata (Twolobe Dutchman's Pipe) · A. brasiliensis (Aristolochia) · A. californica (California Dutchman's Pipe) · A. chilensis (Oreja De Zorro) · A. clematitis (Birthwort) · A. contorta (Dutchmans Pipe) · A. cordifolia (Heartleaf Dutchman's Pipe) · A. coryi (Cory's Dutchman's Pipe) · A. cymbifera (Mil-Homens) · A. elegans (Calico Flower) · A. erecta (Dutchman's Pipe) · A. fimbriata (White Veined Dutchmans Pipe) · A. gigantea (Calico Flower) · A. gigantea 'Brasiliensis' (Dutchmans Pipe) · A. grandiflora (Calico Flower) · A. indica (Indian Birthwort) · A. labiata (Mottled Dutchman's Pipe) · A. leuconeura (Aristolochia) · A. littoralis (Calico Flower) · A. macrophylla (Broadleafed Birthwort) · A. manshuriensis (Birthwort) · A. maxima (Florida Dutchman's Pipe) · A. odoratissima (Fragrant Dutchman's Pipe) · A. pearcei (Scrambling Dutchmans Pipe) · A. peltata (Peltate Dutchman's Pipe) · A. pentandra (Marsh's Dutchman's Pipe) · A. peruviana (Aristolochia) · A. pilosa (Pipevine) · A. reticulata (Texas Dutchman's Pipe) · A. ringens (Dutchman's Pipe) · A. sempervirens (Dutchmans Pipe) · A. serpentaria (Black Snakeroot) · A. tomentosa (Common Dutchmanspipe) · A. trilobata (Bejuco De Santiago) · A. watsonii (Indian Root) · A. wrightii (Wright's Dutchman's Pipe) · A. 'Guimaraes' (Dutchmans Pipe)

More Info

• Search for Pictures: images.google.com
• Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
• Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
• Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books

Further Reading

• A catalogue of the lepidopterous insects in the museum of the Hon. East-India company. By Thomas Horsfield. .. and Frederic Moore. .. London, W.H. Allen and Co., 1857-59. url p. 93.
• A dictionary of the plant names of the Philippine Islands / by Elmer D. Merrill. Manila: Bureau of Public Print., 1903. url p. 62.
• A manual of Indian botany. London, Blackie & Son Ltd., 1920. url , , .
• A manual of botany, including the structure, classification, properties, uses, and functions of plants. London, J & A. Churchill, 1887. url p. 682.
• A manual of botany: including the structure, classification, properties, uses, and functions of plants. London, John Churchill and Sons, 1870. url p. 648.
• A manual of gardening for western and southern India, by R. Riddell. Ed. and rev. by Lieutenant-colonel Boddam. Madras: Higginbotham and co., 1884. url p. 105.
• A manual of poisonous plants, chiefly of eastern North America, with brief notes on economic and medicinal plants, and numerous illustrations, Cedar Rapids, Ia., The Torch Press, 1911. url .
• A manual of poisonous plants: chiefly of eastern North America, with brief notes on economic and medicinal plants, and numerous illustrations / by L. H. Pammel. 1911 Cedar Rapids, Ia.: The Torch Press, 1910-11. url fig. 197, p. 417.
• A review of the identifications of the species described in Blanco's Flora de Filipinas, Manila, Bureau of public printing, 1905. url p. 72.
• A review of the references to the Hortus malabaricus of Henry Van Rheede Van Draakenstein [sic] Swansea: Printed at the Cambrian-Office, by Murray and Rees, 1839. url p. 39.
• A systematic catalogue of the flowering plants and ferns indigenous to or growing wild in Ceylon. Colombo: G. J. A. Skeen, 1885. url .
• An enumeration of Philippine flowering plants, Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1922-26. url p. 120.
• Animal sketches / by C. Lloyd Morgan; illustrated by W. Monkhouse Rowe. London: E. Arnold, [1891?] url p. 189.
• Animate creation: popular edition of "Our living world": a natural history / by the Rev. J.G. Wood. New York: Selmar Hess, c1898. url p. 144.
• Animate creation; popular edition of "Our Living World" a natural history, by the Rev. J. G. Wood. Revised and adapted to American zoology, by Joseph B. Holder. New York, S. Hess[1898] url p. 143, p. 144.
• Annals of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya. Colombo: Skien; 1901-1924. url p. 202.
• Bengal plants: a list of the phanerogams, ferns and fern-allies indigenous to, or commonly cultivated in, the Lower provinces and Chittagong, with definitions of the natural orders and genera, and keys to the genera and species. 2 1903 Calcutta: Botanical Survey of India1903. url p. 891.
• Botanical publications of E.D. Merrill. [New York, etc., 1899- url p. 120.
• Butterflies. Vol. I-II. / By Lieut.-Colonel C. T. Bingham. Calcutta and Simla, Taylor and Francis;1905-1907. url p. 21.
• Cassell's natural history. Ed. by P. Martin Duncan. .. London [etc]Cassell & Company, Limited, 1891-96. url p. 95.
• Catalogue of scientific papers, 1800-1900. CambridgeUniversity Press1908-14 url p. 760.
• Catalogue of the economic products of the Presidency of Bombay: being a catalogue of the Government Central Museum, Division 1., Raw produce (vegetable) / compiled by Assistant Surgeon Birdwood. Bombay: Printed at the Education Society's Press, 1862. url p. 75.
• Ceylon: an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions / by Sir James Emerson Tennent. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860. url p. 199.
• Ceylon; an account of the island, physical, historical, and topographical, with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions, by Sir James Emerson Tennent. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1860. url p. 199.
• Check-list of the species of fishes known from the Philippine Archipelago, Manila, Bureau of printing, 1910. url p. 135.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45 2003 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 153, p. 407, p. 413, p. 497.
• Curtis's botanical magazine. 121 1895 London; New York [etc.]: Academic Press [etc.] url .
• Dr. John Fothergill and his friends; chapters in eighteenth century life; by R. Hingston Fox. London: Macmillan, 1919. url p. 206.
• First book of Indian botany. London, Macmillan, 1907. url p. 281.
• Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url p. 94, p. 94.
• Flora medica; a botanical account of all the more important plants used in medicine in different parts of the world. London, Longman, 1838. url p. 341, p. 635.
• Glimpses into the life of Indian plants: an elementary Indian botany / by I. Pfleiderer. Mangalore: Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository, 1916. url p. 127.
• Illustrated natural history / by J.G. Wood; with new illustrations by Wolf, Zwecker, Weir, Coleman, Harvey and others; engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. New York: Home Bk. Co., [188-?] url p. 143.
• Indian insect life: a manual of the insects of the plains (tropical India) / H. Maxwell-Lefroy, assisted by F. M. Howlett. (Pub. under the authority of the government of India). 1909 Calcutta; Thacker, Spink & Co., W. Thacker & Co., 2 Creed Lane, London, 1909. url p. 423.
• Indian trees: an account of trees, shrubs, woody climbers, bamboos, and palms indigenous or commonly cultivated in the British Indian empire / London: A. Constable, 1906. url p. 522, p. 716.
• Journal of ethnobiology. 12-13 1992-1993 Flagstaff, Ariz.: Center for Western Studies, 1981- url p. 265.
• Lepidoptera indica. By F. Moore. London, 1890-1913. url p. 174, p. 180.
• Natural history sketches among the carnivora, wild and domesticated, with observations on their habits and mental faculties. London, L. Upcott Gill, 1885. url .
• Newman's entomologist. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., [1869-1876] url p. 208, p. 208.
• On the poison of venomous snakes and the methods of preventing death from their bite. Reprinted papers by the late Sir Joseph Fayrer. .. Sir Lauder Brunton. .. and Major Leonard Rogers. .. London, Macmillan and Co., limited, 1909. url p. 110.
• Our living world; an artistic edition of the Rev. J. G. Wood's Natural history of animate creation. New York: S. Hess, [1885] url .
• Pharmacographia Indica.by William Dymock, C.J.H. Warden, and David Hooper. 1890-1893 London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1893. url p. 196.
• Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. Sydney, Linnean Society of New South Wales. url p. 24.
• Proceedings. Royal Society of London. v. 1-75; 1800-1904. London url p. 133.
• Report on the scientific results of the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76: under the command of Captain George S. Nares, R.N., F.R.S. and Captain Frank Turle Thomson, R.N. / prepared under the superintendence of Sir C. Wyville Thomson. Edinburgh: Neill, 1880-1895. url p. 184.
• Sketches of the natural history of Ceylon: with narratives and anecdotes illustrative of the habits and instincts of the mammalia, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, &c.: including a monograph of the elephant and a description of the modes of by Sir J. Emerson Tennent. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1868 url p. 314.
• Spolia zeylanica. S.l.: s.n. url , p. 72.
• The Annals and magazine of natural history; zoology, botany, and geology being a continuation of the Annals combined with Loudon and Charlesworth's Magazine of Natural History. London, Taylor and Francis, Ltd. url p. 145, p. 145, p. 145.
• The Bradley bibliography; a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century; Cambridge, Riverside Press, 1911-18. url p. 386.
• The Cambridge natural history / London: Macmillan and Co.; 1895-1909. url p. 629.
• The Cambridge natural history, London, Macmillan and Co., Limited;1895-1909 url .
• The Cambridge natural history, ed. by S.F. Harmer. .. and A.E. Shipley. .. London, Macmillan and co., limited;1895-1909 url p. 629.
• The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Bombay: The Society, url , p. 1130, p. 241, p. 361, p. 492, p. 553, p. 569, p. 579.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 24 1888 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 149, p. 472.
• The Review of applied entomology. Farnham Royal, Eng., etc.: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, etc. url p. 164, p. 567.
• The botany of Bihar and Orissa: an account of all the known indigenous plants of the province and of the most important or most commonly cultivated exotic ones / with maps and introduction by H. H. Haines. London: Printed by Adlard and sold by agents for Indian Official Publications, 1921-25. url p. 1248, p. 785.
• The flora of British India /By J. D. Hooker assisted by various botanists. Published under the authority of the secretary of state for India in council. 5 1890 London: L. Reeve, 1875-97. url p. 75.
• The flora of the Northern Territory, Melbourne, McCarron, Bird & Co., Printers, 1917. url .
• The flora of the presidency of Bombay / By Theodore Cooke. London: Taylor and Francis, 1903-08. url p. 523, p. 524.
• The illustrated natural history / by J.G. Wood; with new designs by Wolf, Zwecker, Weir, Coleman, Harvey, etc. etc.; engraved by the brothers Dalziel. London: G. Routledge, [188-?] url p. 143.
• The journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta: Bishop's College Press, 1832-1936 url p. 208, p. 256, p. 257.
• The medicinal plants of the Philippines / by T. H. Pardo de Tavera; translated and revised by Jerome B. Thomas. Philadelphia, P. Blakiston's son & co., 1901. url p. 203.
• The vegetable kingdom: or, The structure, classification, and uses of plants, illustrated upon the natural system / by John Lindley. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846. url p. 793.
• The vegetable kingdom; or, The structure, classification, and uses of plants, LondonBradbury & Evans1853 url p. 793.
• Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. London, The Society. url , .
• Vernacular list of trees, shrubs, and woody climbers in the Madras Presidency. Madras, Printed by the Superintendant, Government Press, 1915. url p. 362, p. 374, p. 606, p. 854, p. 897.
• Wallich, N. Plantae Asiaticae rariores, or, Descriptions and figures of a select number of unpublished East Indian plants /by N. Wallich. 2 1831 London: Treuttel and Wu?rtz, 1830-32. url p. 3.
• Zoologist. London.1843-1916 url p. 4507.
• [Publications] - Bureau of Government Laboratories. Manila, Bureau of Public Printing, 1903-1906. url p. 62.
• Cheng Ching-yung, Yang Chun-shu & Hwang Shu-mei. 1988. Aristolochiaceae. In: Kiu Hua-shing & Ling Yeou-ruenn, eds., Fl. Reipubl. Popularis Sin. 24: 159245.
• Pfeifer, H. W. 1966. Revision of the North and Central American hexandrous species of Aristolochia (Aristolochiaceae). Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 53: 1-114.
• Pfeifer, H. W. 1970. A Taxonomic Revision of the Pentandrous Species of Aristolochia. [Storrs.]

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed March 27, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 16, 2007:

• National Herbarium of New South Wales, NSW herbarium collection

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 1671761
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 15059168
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:93025-1
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 140046-3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 1197380

Footnotes

1. Liguo Fu, Nan Li & Robert R. Mill "Aristolochiaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 5 Page 246. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
2. Kerry Barringer "Aristolochia". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.