KANUNCULACEAE 431 



mostly 5, thin, ovate or oblong, 2.5-7.5 cm. long, iiicisely 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 o 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. Bkook-fe.\thek. 



5. COPTIS Salisb. 



Low perennial scapose herbs, with slender rootstocks. Leaves l)asal : 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 trifolia (L.) Salisb. Foliage glabrous. Plants tufted, 7-15 cm. high from 



slender or filiform yellow bitter rootstocks : leaves all basal, evergreen, with long, very 



slender petioles; blades reniform in outline, 2.5-5 cm. 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 G 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 < olumbia and Alaska, and 

 In the Alleghenies to North Carolina. Spring and summer. Gold-thre.^d. 



6. ISOPYRUM L. 



Slender perennial caulescent herbs, with glabrous foliage. Leaves basal and cauline : 

 blades ternately decomj^ound. 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 bitematum (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. 



In moist woods and thickets, Ontario to Minnesota, Florida and Texas. Spring. False Kue 

 Anemone. 



7. CIMICIFUGA L. 



Perennial herbs, M-ith 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 S-10 mm. long : seeds chaffy. 1. C. rubifolia. 



Filaments about 8 mm. long : follicles 5-7 mm. long : seeds smootli. 2. C. racemosa. 



Carpels 3 or 8, stalked : seeds in 1 row. 3. C. Americana. 



1. Cimiclfuga rubifolia Kearney. Stems erect, G-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 suborliicular, 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, lentictilar, 3 mm. long. 



On wooded bluffs of the Tennessee River, near Knoxville, Tennessee. Fall. 



2. Cimicifuga racemosa (L. ) Nutt. Stems slender, 1-2.5 m. high, leafy above. 

 Leaf -blades ternate, the divisions pinnate arid the secondary divisions often again compound : 



