Flora of North America species comparison

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Aristolochiaceae

birthwort family, Dutchman's-pipe family, pipevine family
Habit Herbs or lianas [shrubs, rarely trees], deciduous or evergreen, often aromatic.
Leaves

blade unlobed, margins entire.
Inflorescences

terminal or axillary, racemes or solitary flowers, rarely fan-shaped cymes.
Flowers

bisexual;

calyx enlarged, petaloid, usually tubular, [1-,] 3-, [6-, rarely 5-]merous, lobes valvate;

corolla usually reduced to scales or absent;

stamens 5, 6, or 12 [multiples of 3 or 5], free or adnate to styles and stigmas, forming gynostemium;

anthers extrorse;

pistil 1, 4-6-carpellate;

ovary inferior, partly inferior, or superior;

placentation axile (and ovaries 4-6-locular) or parietal;

ovules many per locule, anatropous.
Fruits

capsules [follicles], regularly to irregularly loculicidal, rarely indehiscent [septicidal].
Seeds

often flattened;

endosperm copious.
Wood

with broad medullary rays.

Aristolochiaceae
Distribution
Primarily pantropical and subtropical
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Genera 5, species ca. 600 (3 genera, 28 species in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Calyx bilaterally symmetric, usually bent or curved; ovary inferior; stems erect, twining, or procumbent.
Aristolochia
1. Calyx radially symmetric, straight; ovary inferior, partly inferior, or superior; stems rhizomatous.
→ 2
2. Sepals distinct; anthers each with prominent terminal appendage; styles connate in column; ovary inferior.
Asarum
2. Sepals connate for most of length; anthers without terminal appendages; styles distinct (except sometimes at extreme base); ovary superior or ca. 1/3-inferior.
Hexastylis
Source FNA vol. 3, p. 44. Treatment authors: Kerry Barringer, Alan T. Whittemore.
Parent taxa
Subordinate taxa
Aristolochia, Asarum, Hexastylis
Name authority Jussieu
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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