RANUNCULACEi^-CROWFOOT FAMILY 



HYDRASTIS. GOLDEN SEAL 



Hydrastis Canadensis 



Perennial. Rich woods. New York to Minnesota and 

 southward. Frequent in northern Ohio. April, May. 



Rootstock. — Thick, knotted, yellow, about two inches 

 long, with many long, fibrous roots; juices bitter. 



Flower-stem. — Simple, hairy, two-leaved, bearing a single 

 greenish-white flower. 



Leaves. — Basal leaf long-petioled, rounded, heart- 

 shaped at base, five to seven-lobed, doubly serrate, veiny; 

 when full grown in summer, four to nine inches wide; 

 stem-leaves two, borne at the summit of the stem. 



Flowers. — Greenish white, sepals dropping early so as 

 to leave the flower chiefly a mass of stamens. 



Calyx. — Three sepals, petal-like, falling when the 

 flower opens. 



Corolla. — Wanting. 

 Stamens. — Many. 



Pistil. — Twelve or more carpels in a head. 

 Fruit. — A head of small, crimson, fleshy carpels, look- 

 ing Hke a red raspberry. 



This is a plant that ordinary observers would call 

 rare, and, as a matter of fact, is not often seen, prin- 

 cipally because there is so little to see. A low peren- 

 nial herb with a stout, strongly rooted rootstock, 

 golden yellow when broken, sends up in the spring a 



59 



