88 



RANUNCULACEAE. 



VOL. II. 



i. Eranthis hyemalis (L.) Salisb. Winter 

 Aconite or Hellebore. Fig. 1858. 



Hellcborus hyemalis L. Sp. PI. 557. 1753. 



Eranthis hyemalis Salisb. Trans. Linn. Soc. 8 : 304. 1803. 



Cammarum hyemale Greene, Pittonia 3: 152. 1897. 



Erect, simple, 5 '-8' high from a tuberous-thick- 

 ened rootstock ; roots fibrous. Basal leaves long- 

 petioled, i\' broad, divided and cleft into numerous 

 linear or oblong lobes; cauline leaf similar, invo- 

 lucrate, sessile, clasping; flower solitary, ii' wide, 

 sessile; sepals 5-9, membranous, obovate, obtuse, 

 occasionally lobed; petals several, clawed, 2-lipped; 

 stamens numerous; filaments filiform; anthers ob- 

 long, obtuse ; carpels several, stipitate ; follicles com- 

 pressed, 5" long, tipped with a sharp beak. 



Naturalized from Europe at Bartram's Garden, Phila- 

 delphia, and at Media, Pa. Wolf's-bane. Christmas- 

 flower. February. 



6. COPTIS Salisb. Trans. Linn. Soc. 8 : 305. 1803. 



Low herbs, with slender perennial rootstocks, basal compound or divided leaves, and 

 scapose white flowers. Sepals 5-7, petaloid, deciduous; petals 5-7, small, linear, cucullate. 

 Stamens numerous. Carpels stipitate, few, in fruit forming an umbel of follicles. [Name 

 from the Greek, referring to the cut or divided leaves.] 



A genus of about 9 species, inhabiting the cooler portions of the north temperate zone. In 

 addition to the following, three others are found on the Pacific Coast of North America. Type 

 species: Coptis trifolia (L.) Salisb. 



i. Coptis trifolia (L.) Salisb. Gold-thread. Fig. 1859. 



Helleborus trifolius L. Sp. PI. Ed. 2, 784. 1762. 

 Coptis trifolia Salisb. Trans. Linn. Soc. 8 : 305. 



1803. 

 Isopyrum trifolium Britton, Bull. Torr. Club 18 : 265. 



1891. 



Tufted, glabrous, 3'-6' high from a slender 

 or filiform yellow bitter rootstock. Leaves all 

 basal, evergreen, long-petioled, the blade reni- 

 form, i '-2' broad, 3-divided; petioles very slen- 

 der ; segments broadly obovate, cuneate, obtuse, 

 prominently veined, crenate or slightly lobed, 

 dark green and shining above, paler beneath, the 

 teeth mucronate; scape i-flowered, occasionally 

 2-flowered, slender ; sepals oblong, obtuse ; petals 

 small, club-shaped ; follicles 3-7, about 3" long, 

 borne on stipes of about their own length, spread- 

 ing, tipped with a beak i"-ij" long. 



In damp mossy woods, and bogs, Newfoundland to 

 Maryland and eastern Tennessee, Iowa, Minnesota, 

 British Columbia and Alaska. Ascends to 3500 ft. 

 in the Adirondacks. Called also canker-root, mouth- 

 root, yellow-root. May-Aug. 



7. ISOPYRUM L. Sp. PI. 557. 1753- 

 Slender glabrous herbs, with ternately decompound leaves, and solitary or panicled 



white flowers. Sepals 5 or 6, petaloid, deciduous. Petals 5, nectariform or none. Stamens 



numerous. Carpels 2-20, sessile (stalked in a western species), several-ovuled, forming a 



head of follicles in fruit. [Old Greek name for some Fumaria.] 



A genus of about 15 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, there 



are 3 other North American species, natives of the Pacific Coast. Type species : Isopyrum 



rlialictroides L. 



