Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
Aristolochia
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]
Biology
Growth
Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
)
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
)
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
)
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
)
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
)
- Kenrick & Crane, 1997
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
)
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Magnoliidae
(
)
- Novák ex Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Magnolianae
(
)
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Piperales
(
)
- Dumortier, 1829
- Family:
Aristolochiaceae
(
)
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons.
- birthworts
- Subfamily:
Aristolochioideae
(
)
- Tribe:
Aristolochieae
(
)
- Genus:
Aristolochia
(
)
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Dutchman's-pipe [Greek aristolocheia, birthwort, from aristos, best, and lochia, delivery, in reference to ancient use of herb as aid in childbirth]
- Specific epithet:
leuconeura
- Linden
- Botanical name: - Aristolochia leuconeura Linden
- Specific epithet:
leuconeura
- Linden
- Genus:
Aristolochia
(
- Tribe:
Aristolochieae
(
- Subfamily:
Aristolochioideae
(
- Family:
Aristolochiaceae
(
- Order:
Piperales
(
- Superorder:
Magnolianae
(
- Subclass:
Magnoliidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Radiatopses
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : Linden Publication : in Belg. Hortic. viii. (1858) 165.
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
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Further Reading
- A handbook of tropical gardening and planting, with special reference to Ceylon, by H. F. Macmillan. .. Colombo, H.W. Cave & co., 1914. url p. 339.
- Flora Malesiana. general editor, C.G.G.J. van Steenis. Djakarta: Noordhoff-Kolff, 1950- url p. 62, p. 62.
- 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. 182, p. 386.
- The Gardener's monthly and horticultural advertiser. Philadelphia [Pa.: s.n.1859-1875] url p. 64.
- The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 664, p. 895.
- The Horticulturist and journal of rural art and rural taste. Albany, N.Y.: Luthur Tucker, 1846/1847-1875 url p. 97.
- The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 14 1875 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 489.
- The Magazine of horticulture, botany, and all useful discoveries and improvements in rural affairs. Boston: Hovey and Co., 1837- url p. 265.
- The parks and gardens of Paris, considered in relation to the wants of other cities and of the public and private gardens; being notes on a study of Paris gardens. London, Macmillan and co., 1878. 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. 990.
- 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 January 19, 2008:
- Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program
- Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad
- , Biodiversidad de Costa Rica
- Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3495154
- Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:93064-1
- International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 93064-1
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 708159
Footnotes
- 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]
- Kerry Barringer "Aristolochia". in Flora of North America Vol. 3. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
