Aristolochia L.
Contenido
Descripción
Perennial herbs, sometimes geophytic or woody, usually procumbent, climbing or
liana, erect, shrubs, subshrub, and rarely arborescent. With perennial subterranean
organs, roots or rhizomes, usually thickened and tubers. Internodes long, short or with
a drastic reduction; leaves petiolate (rarely subsessile), alternate and distichous. Peti-
oles with or without basal abscission, with or without pseudostipules (atrophied and
adosseted propylls), when present are in the axillar part of the shoots, sometimes
embracing the stem (amplexicaul) or absent. Leaf blades, with different shapes, e.g.,
cordiform to ensiform, generally with the base auricular, cordate or subcordate, but also
rounded, obtuse, hastate, cuneate, and sagittate; palmately veined (with 3–7veins),
rarely pinnate with actinodromous, campylodromous, or intermediate forms of veins.
Flowers usually axillary (sometimes growing from old stems) or cauliflorous, with
peduncle and/or pedicels, with bracts present or absent, flowers solitary or commonly
with indeterminate and rarely with determinate inflorescence, placed in thyrse, raceme,
and cymes with one or more bracts opposite to the flower. Perianth geniculate or rarely
erect, divided into three regions: a proximal utricle swollen, sometimes gibbous, a tube
erect or geniculate and a distal limb, ligulate, discoid, or sub-peltate, with 1–3 lobate,
rarely 6-dentate and with a throat (entrance to the perianth tube); the syrinx (internal
prolongation of the tube into the utricle) infundibuliform, present in some groups (e.g.,
Aristolochia subsection Pentandrae)orabsent;petals absent. Gynostemium coroniform (placed into the utricle), with stipe, rarely subsessile, stigmatic lobes (style attached to the column) with 5, 3–6 lobes, anthers extrorse dehiscent, 5 or 3–6 or multiples thereof, attached to the stigmatic lobes. Ovary inferior, 5 or 6 locular, numerous ovule, anatropous, syncarpous (same number as the anthers). Fruit a capsule with 5 or 6 locules, with septicidal dehiscence at the apex or at the base, rarely indehiscent; numerous seeds in every carpel, arranged in 5 or 6 vertical rows, deltoids, obcordate, ovoid, ellipsoid, or rhomboid, compressed, with or without wings, sometimes with aril glutinous persistent, like an oily membrane, or aril dry and marked raphe (description based on Paizanni Guillén 2018)A
liana, erect, shrubs, subshrub, and rarely arborescent. With perennial subterranean
organs, roots or rhizomes, usually thickened and tubers. Internodes long, short or with
a drastic reduction; leaves petiolate (rarely subsessile), alternate and distichous. Peti-
oles with or without basal abscission, with or without pseudostipules (atrophied and
adosseted propylls), when present are in the axillar part of the shoots, sometimes
embracing the stem (amplexicaul) or absent. Leaf blades, with different shapes, e.g.,
cordiform to ensiform, generally with the base auricular, cordate or subcordate, but also
rounded, obtuse, hastate, cuneate, and sagittate; palmately veined (with 3–7veins),
rarely pinnate with actinodromous, campylodromous, or intermediate forms of veins.
Flowers usually axillary (sometimes growing from old stems) or cauliflorous, with
peduncle and/or pedicels, with bracts present or absent, flowers solitary or commonly
with indeterminate and rarely with determinate inflorescence, placed in thyrse, raceme,
and cymes with one or more bracts opposite to the flower. Perianth geniculate or rarely
erect, divided into three regions: a proximal utricle swollen, sometimes gibbous, a tube
erect or geniculate and a distal limb, ligulate, discoid, or sub-peltate, with 1–3 lobate,
rarely 6-dentate and with a throat (entrance to the perianth tube); the syrinx (internal
prolongation of the tube into the utricle) infundibuliform, present in some groups (e.g.,
Aristolochia subsection Pentandrae)orabsent;petals absent. Gynostemium coroniform (placed into the utricle), with stipe, rarely subsessile, stigmatic lobes (style attached to the column) with 5, 3–6 lobes, anthers extrorse dehiscent, 5 or 3–6 or multiples thereof, attached to the stigmatic lobes. Ovary inferior, 5 or 6 locular, numerous ovule, anatropous, syncarpous (same number as the anthers). Fruit a capsule with 5 or 6 locules, with septicidal dehiscence at the apex or at the base, rarely indehiscent; numerous seeds in every carpel, arranged in 5 or 6 vertical rows, deltoids, obcordate, ovoid, ellipsoid, or rhomboid, compressed, with or without wings, sometimes with aril glutinous persistent, like an oily membrane, or aril dry and marked raphe (description based on Paizanni Guillén 2018)A
Bibliografía
A. Paizanni Guillén, A. & D. Douterlungne Rotsaert 2023: Aristolochia spp. Aristolochiaceae. In: Casas A. et al. (eds.). Ethnobotany of the Mountain Regions of Mexico. Springer, pp. 1081–1137. – In: Casas A. et al. (eds.). Ethnobotany of the Mountain Regions of Mexico. – Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77089-5_29-1