A. vulgate (common). fl., spathe livid purple. May. h. 1ft. South Europe, 1596.
ARISTATE. Having a beard or awn, as the glumes of barley.
ARISTEA (from arista, a point or beard; in reference to the rigid points of the leaves). ORD. Iridaceæ. A genus of greenhouse herbaceous perennials from the Cape of Good Hope. Flowers blue; perianth rotate, six-parted, twisted after flowering; scape two-edged, rigid, often branched. Leaves narrow, sword-shaped. The species are more interesting than ornamental, and may be grown in a compost of three parts turfy peat, and one of loam. Easily propagated by divisions and seeds. They vary in height from 3in. to 3ft., and flower generally in summer.
A. capitata (headed). fl. blue. July. h. 3ft. Cape of Good Hope, 1790.
A. cyanea (bright blue). fl. blue. June. h. 6in. Cape of Good Hope, 1759.
ARISTOLOCHIA (from aristos, best, and locheia, parturition; in reference to its supposed medicinal character). Birthwort. ORD. Aristolochiaceæ. A very large genus of stove, greenhouse, or hardy, evergreen or deciduous, climbing or erect shrubs. Flowers axillary, clustered, or solitary, pendulous, of most extraordinary forms; perianth tubular, curved, or straight, with an oblique, cordate limb; stamens six, rarely four, or numerous, adhering to the stigma; capsule six-valved. Leaves cordate entire or lobed. Good loam, with a small proportion of decayed manure and a slight addition of sharp sand to secure efficient drainage, is a good compost for the whole. They will thrive when planted out in the conservatory more satisfactorily than elsewhere; for as they usually grow a considerable height before flowering, they require very long trellises in pots, and have to be trained up and down; or, better still, round a pillar of uniform circumference, a pyramid form being useless. The best way is to train them round, close down to the pot, and keep on about 2in. from one turn to the next. Some of the larger sorts will require more room. Cuttings root freely in sand under a bell glass with bottom heat.
A. anguicida (snake-killing). fl. white, spotted brown; tube of perianth inflated at base, dilated and oblique at the mouth; peduncles axillary, solitary, one-flowered. December. l. on short petioles, cordate acuminate; stipules cordate-roundish. h. 10ft. New Grenada, 1845. An evergreen stove twiner.
A. barbata (bearded). fl. purple, axillary, 2½in. long; perianth straight; limb spreading; lip spathulate, bearded at the end. July. l. cordate, oblong. h. 10ft. Caraccas, 1796. Stove evergreen.
A. caudata (tailed).* fl. lurid; perianth cylindrical ventricose, and six-spurred at the base; lip cordate, cuspidate; the cusp twisted, filiform. June. l., lower ones reniform, lobed; upper ones three partite. h. 5ft. Brazil, 1828. Deciduous stove twiner.
A. ciliosa (fringed).* fl. purple-yellow; tube of perianth obliquely ventricose at base, stretched out, from the middle to the apex cylindrical, fringed; peduncles one-flowered. September. l. cordate reniform. Plant glabrous. h. 6ft. Brazil, 1829.
A. Clematitis (Clematis-like). fl. pale yellow, upright; lip oblong, shortly acuminate. July. l. cordate. Stem erect. h. 2ft. A hardy herbaceous perennial, naturalised here and there in Britain.
A. clypeata (shielded). fl. axillary; tube yellowish, cylindrical; limb elliptic, white, blotched with purple, long and large, funnel-shaped. l. subcordate-ovate, acuminate. Columbia, 1871.
A. cordiflora (cordate-flowered). fl. axillary, very large, with broad cordiform limb, creamy yellow, with blotchy purple veining. May. l. cordate acuminate. h. 30ft. Mexico, 1860.
A. deltoidea variegata (deltoid variegated variety). l. variegated with white. h. 6ft. Columbia, 1870.
A. Duchartrei (Duchartre's).* fl. racemose; tube brown; limb cream colour, with purple blotches. January. l. reniform-cordate, acuminate. Upper Amazons, 1868. h. 5ft. This stove species flowers from the old wood. SYN. A. Ruiziana.
A. floribunda (free-flowering).* fl. numerous; limb purplish-red, with yellow veins, centre yellow. July. l. cordate ovate, acuminate. h. 10ft. Brazil, 1868. Stove species.
A. galeata (helmeted). fl. creamy, with reticulated veins. August. l. cordate, with broad open sinus. h. 20ft. New Grenada, 1873.
A. gigas (giant). fl. purple; perianth large, cordate ribbed outside, reticulated, downy; tube inflated, contracted in the middle; limb large, cordate ovate, with a long tail. June. l. downy, cordate, acuminate; peduncles solitary, bracteate. h. 10ft. Guatemala, 1841.
A. Goldieana (Goldie's).* fl. greenish outside, deep yellow with chocolate veins inside, bent into two unequal portions, the lower portion surmounting the ovary about 8in. in length, somewhat cylindrical, terminating in a club-shaped curved knob; the upper portion, commencing from this knob, is about a foot long, funnel-shaped, ribbed, dilated above into a somewhat three-lobed limb. Stamens twenty-four—a very unusual number in the whole family. The enormous flowers are 26in. long by 11in. in diameter. July. l. ovate, or triangular-cordate, acuminated. Old Calabar River, 1867. This noble climber should be repotted in fresh soil in February or March. But little water will be necessary until the young shoots have made about 6in. of growth; the quantity should then be increased with moderation until early in September, when the old stem dies down within a few inches of the surface of the pot—at this period, and during winter, water must be entirely withheld. This species blooms freely in a temperature of 65deg. to 70deg.
A. indica (Indian). fl. purple; perianth erect; peduncle many-flowered. July. l. elliptical, blunt, somewhat emarginate, slightly cordate. h. 10ft. India, 1780. Stove evergreen.
A. labiosa (great-lipped).* fl. greenish; perianth incurved at base, saccate, two-lipped in the middle. July. l. reniform, roundish cordate, amplexicaul. h. 20ft. Brazil, 1821. Stove evergreen.
A. leuconeura (white-veined). fl. purple brown. September. l. cordate, acuminate. h. 12ft. Magdalena, 1858. Stove species.
A. odoratissima (sweetest-scented).* fl. purple, sweet-scented; peduncles one-flowered, longer than the leaf; lip cordate lanceolate, longer than the perianth. July. l. cordate, ovate, evergreen. Stem twining. h. 10ft. Jamaica, 1737. Stove evergreen.
A. ornithocephala (bird's-head).* fl. purple, very large, and extremely singular. To render any description at all lucid, this species may be said to have the head of a hawk and the beak of a heron, with the wattles of a Spanish fowl, which, however, are grey, netted with brown; head of the same colour, veined; and the beak grey. l. between cordate and reniform, obtuse. October. h. 20ft. Brazil, 1838. Stove species.
A. ringens (gaping).* fl. extremely grotesque, 7in. to 10in. long, pale green, marbled and reticulated with black purple. The perianth has an obovoid ventricose sac, or cup, 2½in. long, which is woolly inside; tube ascending obliquely from the sac, terete, dividing into two very long lips, the upper of which (lower as the flower hangs) is oblong-lanceolate, recurved, and hairy inside below the middle, while the lower one is shorter, with recurved margins, and expanding into an orbicular or almost reniform limb. Unlike many other species, the flowers are produced on the young shoots. July. l. bright green, glabrous, roundish-reniform. h. 20ft. Brazil, 1820. Stove evergreen.
A. Ruiziana (Ruiz's). A synonym of A. Duchartrei.
A. saccata (pouch-flowered). fl. purplish-red, forming a large pouch; throat circular, vertical. September. l. 12in. to 15in. long, and 4in. broad, scattered, ovate-cordate, narrowed at apex, slightly waved and sinuated, entire, more silky beneath than above. h. 20ft. Sylhet, 1829. Stove evergreen.
A. sempervirens (evergreen). fl. purple; perianth incurved. May. l. cordate, oblong, acuminate. Stem prostrate, flexuous, somewhat climbing. h. 4ft. Candia, 1727. Greenhouse species.
FIG. 149. FLOWERING BRANCH OF ARISTOLOCHIA SIPHO.
A. Sipho (tube-bearing).* fl. yellowish-brown; corolla ascending; limb in three equal portions, not expanding, flat, brown; bracts of the peduncle large, ovate. May and June. l. cordate, acute. Stem twining. h. 15ft. to 30ft. North America, 1763. This hardy, climbing, deciduous shrub grows freely in a deep, free, rather dry soil. See Fig. 149.
A. Thwaitesii (Thwaites'). fl. yellow. March. h. 3ft. Old Calabar, 1854. Stove species.
A. tomentosa (tomentose).* fl. purple; perianth with its tube twisted back, and much more deeply divided than in A. Sipho, expanding, flat, and yellow, with the mouth of the tube of a deep purple; peduncle solitary, without a bract. July. l. cordate, downy beneath. h. 20ft. North America, 1799. Hardy.
A. tricandata (three-tailed).* fl. dark purple-brown, solitary, split into three subulate tails. August. l. oblong acuminate, rugose, 5in. to 8in. long. Mexico, 1866. A curious, but pretty, stove shrub.
A. trilobata (three-lobed). fl. purple; perianth cylindrical, broken saccate at base; lip cordate cuspidate. June. l. three-lobed. Stem twining. h. 8ft. South America, 1775. Stove evergreen.
A. ungulifolia (claw-leaved). fl. racemose; perianth brownish-purple, stipitate at base, above which it is swollen out in a globose or oblong form, with two thickened projections near the end; upper end of tube contracted, somewhat curved, terminating in a two-lipped limb, one lip large, ovate, the other minute. June. l. 6in. to 7in. long, cordate, and pedately five-nerved at the base, three-lobed below the middle, with broad sinuses, the two lateral lobes arcuate, and blunt at the apex. Labuan, 1880. Stove species.
ARISTOLOCHIACEÆ. An order of very curious plants, with singularly inflated flowers, consisting of a calyx only, of a dull, dingy colour. It is popularly known as the Birthwort family, and has an English representative in Aristolochia clematitis.