RANUNCULACEAE 431 
mostly 5, thin, ovate or oblong, 2.5-7.5 em. long, incisely toothed, cleft or divided, acute, 
cuneate, shining, sessile: branches of the raceme or panicle slender, drooping, 5-7.5 cm. 
long: flowers about 4 mm. broad, pedicelled, solitary or 2 or 3 together, brownish purple: 
sepals ovate, acute : follicles 4-8, inflated, light yellow, 1-seeded, diverging, curved at the 
apex, minutely beaked. 
In woods and on rocky ledges, southwestern New York to western Florida and Alabama. Spring. 
SHRUB YELLOW-ROOT. BROOK-FEATHER. 
5. COPTIS Salisb. 
Low perennial scapose herbs, with slender rootstocks. Leaves basal : blades compound 
or divided, petioled. Scape slender. Sepals 5-7, petal-like, deciduous. Petals 5-6, white, 
small, linear, cucullate. Stamens numerous. Carpels stipitate, few, in fruit forming an 
umbel of follicles. 
1. Coptis trifdlia (L.) Salisb. Foliage glabrous. Plants tufted, 7-15 em. high from 
slender or filiform yellow bitter rootstocks: leaves all basal, evergreen, with long, very 
slender petioles; blades reniform in outline, 2.5-5 em. broad, 3-divided, the segments broadly 
obovate-cuneate, obtuse, prominently nerved, crenate, or slightly lobed, dark green or 
shining above, paler beneath, the teeth mucronate: scape 1-flowered, slender: sepals 
oblong, obtuse: petals small, club-shaped: follicles 3-7, about 6 mm. long, borne on 
stipes of about their own length, spreading, each tipped with a beak 2-3 mm. long. 
In damp mossy woods and bogs, Newfoundland to Minnesota, British Columbia and Alaska, and 
in the Alleghenies to North Carolina. Spring and summer. GOLD-THREAD. 
6. ISOPYRUM L. 
Slender perennial caulescent herbs, with glabrous foliage. Leaves basal and cauline: 
blades ternately decompound. Flowers solitary or panicled, white. Sepals 5-9, petal-like. 
deciduous. Petals 5, nectariform, or wanting. Stamens numerous. Carpels 2-20, sessile 
(stalked in a western species), forming a head of follicles in fruit, each with several ovules. 
1. Isopyrum biternàtum (Raf.) T. & G. Roots fibrous and sometimes tuberiferous. 
Stems slender, erect, paniculately branching above: basal leaves with long petioles ; 
blades biternate, thin, the ultimate segments broadly obovate, obtuse, lobed or divided: 
upper leaves similar to the basal but sessile or with short petioles: flowers several, terminal 
or axillary, white, 1-2 cm. broad: sepals 5, oblong or somewhat obovate, obtuse : petals 
wanting: stamens many: filaments slender, thickened above: carpels few: follicles widely 
spreading, ovate, 4 mm. long, several-seeded, each tipped with a beak nearly one-half 
the length of the body. 
ae moist woods and thickets, Ontario to Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Spring. FALSE RUE 
IMONE. 
7. CIMICÍFUGA L. 
Perennial herbs, with stout poisonous rootstocks and tall erect stems. Leaves large, 
with decompound blades. Flowers white, in racemes. Sepals 2-5, petal-like, deciduous. 
Petals 1-8, small, clawed, 2-lobed, or wanting. Carpels 1-8, many-ovuled, sessile or stipi- 
tate. Stigma broad or minute. Follicles dry, dehiscent at maturity. 
Carpels 1 or 2, sessile: seeds wholly or partially in 2 rows. 
Filaments about 4 mm. long : follicles 8-10 mm. long : seeds chaffy. 1. C. rubifolia. 
A Filaments about 8 mm. long: follicles 5-7 mm. long: seeds smooth. 2. C. racemosa. 
Jarpels 3 or 8, stalked : seeds in 1 row. 3. C. Americana. 
l. Cimicifuga rubifdlia Kearney. Stems erect, 6-14 dm. tall, slender above the 
stout 4-angled base, terete above, with 1 or 2 leaves near the base. Leaves ample, the blades 
biternate, the lateral divisions 2-foliolate, the terminal divisions mostly simple : leaflets 
broadly ovate or suborbicular, or broader than long, with irregular acute or acuminate lobes, 
sharply toothed, 12-20 cm. broad, light green beneath, cordate at the base: panicle of 2-4 
slender racemes, the terminal one 15-30 cm. long: pedicels 4-5 mm. long at maturity, sub- 
tended by lanceolate-subulate bracts : sepals 4.5-5 mm. long, fugacious, obtuse: petals 
wanting : filaments about 4 mm. long, flattened : pistil sessile : follicles 8-10 mm. long, be- 
coming parchment-like, prominently nerved, each with a short blunt lateral beak : seeds 
usually 6, lenticular, 3 mm. long. ' 
On wooded bluffs of the Tennessee River, near Knoxville, Tennessee. Fall. 
2. Cimicifuga racemósa (L.) Nutt. Stems slender, 1-2.5 m. high, leafy above. 
Leaf-blades ternate, the divisions pinnate and the secondary divisions often again compound : 
