Perennial evergreen acaulescent herbs, the foliage glabrous or nearly so. Rootstocks dichotomously branched, the roots fleshy. Leaves leathery, often mottled, petioled. Flower solitary, its peduncle subtended by a membranous bract. Calyx glabrous without, the tube sometimes inflated, the 3 segments short, valvate. Corolla none. Stamens 12; filaments shorter than the anthers, or wanting. Ovary mainly free from the calyx-tube; styles distinct, prolonged beyond the extrorse stigmas into cleft appendages. Capsule free from the calyx. Seeds flattened. [Greek, referring to the six styles.]

About 6 species, natives of eastern North America. Type species: Asarum arifolium Michx.

1. Hexastylis Shuttleworthii (Britten And Baker) Small. Large-Flowered Hexastylis

Fig. 1574

Hexastylis Shuttlezvorthii Small; Britton, Man.

348. 1891. Asarum grandiflorum Small, Mem. Torr. Club 4:

150. 1893. Not Kl. Asarum macranthum Small, Mem. Torr. Club 5:

136. 1894. Not Hooker. Asarum Shuttlezvorthii Britten & Baker, Journ.

Bot. 36: 98. 1898.

Glabrous; rootstocks branched. Leaves 1 or 2 to each plant or branch, broadly ovate or suborbicular, dark green and usually mottled above, paler beneath, 2'-4' long, I 1/2'-3' wide. obtuse or subacute at the apex, the basal sinus mostly narrow; petioles 3'-8' long, ascending; calyx- tubular-campanulate, 8"-20" long, not or scarcely contracted at the throat, the lobes obtuse; mottled with violet on the inner side.

one-third to one-half as long as the tube; peduncle 8"-2o" long; filaments shorter than the anthers; anthers equally 4-ribbed, not pointed; styles 6, each 2-cleft. In rich mountain woods, Virginia and North Carolina. May-July.

2. Hexastylis Virginica (L.) Small. Virginia Hexastylis

Fig. 1575

Asarum virginicum L. Sp. PI. 442. 1753.

Asarum heterophyllum Ashe, Contr. Herb. 1: 3. 1897.

H. virginica Small; Britton, Man. 348. 1901.

Rootstocks slender, scaly, clustered, simple or branched. Leaves 1-3 to each plant or branch, coriaceous, glabrous, orbicular or broadly ovate, rounded at the apex, 1 1/2' - 3' wide, usually mottled, the basal sinus open or nearly closed; petioles pubescent along one side or glabrous, 3'-7' long, ascending; flower short-peduncled, purple, 6"-8" long; calyx campanulate to turbinate, narrowed at the throat, its tube adnate to the lower part of the ovary, free above, the lobes ovate or nearly semicircular, about one-half as long as the tube; peduncle1/4'-1/2' long; filaments much shorter than the anthers; anthers not pointed; styles 6, each 2-lobed, the stigmas sessile below the lobes; capsule hemispheric, about 4" high.

In rick woods, Virginia and West Virginia to Georgia and South Carolina. May-June. Southern wild ginger. Black snakeweed. Heart-leaf.

3. Hexastylis Memmingeri (Ashe) Small. Memminger's Hexastylis

Fig. 1576

Asarum Memmingeri Ashe, Contr. Herb. 1: 3. 1897. Hexastylis Memmingeri Small; Britton, Man. 348. 1901.

Slender. Leaf-blades suborbicular or ovate, 1 1/2-3' long, mostly obtuse or retuse, sometimes mottled, with a slightly open sinus; petioles about as long as the blades or much longer; calyx 5"-7" long, urn-shaped, the tube more or less constricted at the throat; the segments rarely over 1 1/2" long, obtuse; peduncle as long as the calyx or shorter; prolongations of the styles slender, usually deeply cleft; capsule conspicuously distending the calyx; seed sharply triangular.

In sandy woods, Virginia and West Virginia, south to Georgia. May and June.

4. Hexastylis arifolia (Michx.) Small. Halberd or Heart-leaved Hexastylis.

A. arifolium Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1: 279. 1803. H. arifolia Small; Britton, Man. 348. 1901.

Pubescent, at least on the veins of the leaves, rootstocks slender, usually branched and with 1 or 2 leaves to each branch. Leaves rather thick, usually mottled, 2'-5' long, some of them hastate, some suborbicular, the basal sinus often broad; petioles more or less pubescent, 3'-8' long; flower stout-peduncled, about 1' long; calyx urn-shaped, much contracted at the throat, the lobes rounded, about one-fifth as long as the tube, which is adnate to the lower half of the ovary; anthers nearly sessile, short-pointed; styles 6, 2-cleft, with a sessile stigma below the cleft; capsule subglobose, about 8" in diameter.

In woods, Virginia to Tennessee, Florida and Alabama. Ascends to 3000 ft. in Virginia. April-June.

Hexastylis Ruthii (Ashe) Small, differing in the calyx not constricted in the throat, ranges from southwestern Virginia and Tennessee to Alabama.