xANTHORHizA, PENTANDRIA. POLYGYNIA. 333 



ORDER VII. 

 POLYGYNIA, 



225. XANTHORHIZA. Marshall. 



Calyx 0. Petals 5. Nectaries 5, obovate, pedi= 

 cellate. Capsules 5 — 8, 1-seeded, half 2-valved. 

 Marsh. Arb. p. 167. Gen. pi 1581. . Xutt. Gen, 

 I. p. 207. Zow. ///. t. DCCCLIV. Roem, ^ 

 Schult. Gen. 1274. Xanthorhiza V Her it. 

 Stirp. I. p. 79. t. 38. Juss. p. 234. Nat. Ord. 

 RANUNcuLACEiE Juss. Yellow-root. 



X. apiifolia rH eri L 1. c. Will d. Spec. I. p. 1 568. 

 ■A i t. Kew. I. p. 399. Bot. Mag. t. 1 736. M i c h, Fl. I. p. 

 186. Pursh F/. I. p. 222. Elliott Sk. I. p. 377. 

 Bart, Veg. Mat. Med. II. t. 46. R o em. S/ S chult, 

 VI. p. 801. X. simplicissima Marsh. 1. c. p. 168. X. 

 tinctoria Woodhouse in Med. Rep. V. p. 159, cum icone. 



Boot large, 3 — 12 inche? long, yellow and very bitter, throwing 

 up numerous scions. Seem shrubby below, 2 — 3 feet high, 

 slender and very smooth. Leaves alternate, mostly terminal, 

 bipinnate ; leaflets sessile, lanceolate, incisely toothed, smooth 

 above, a little pubescent beneath. Flowers in compound ra- 

 cemes, subterminal. Petals oblong, acute, dark purple. J\/ec- 

 taries obovate, 2-lobed, shorter than the petals, and alternating 

 with them, dark purple. Stamens 5 — 8 ; filaments shorter 

 than the petals; crarAers incumbent. Gerwen«' 2— 3 -seeded, 

 (Nutt.) Cafisules (by abortion) l-seeded, inflated, com- 

 pressed, opening from the acute extremity, half way down> 

 Seed oblong, compressed. 



Hab. In Pennsylvania. April. Muhlenberg. 



The root is a valuable yellow dyC) and is also a strong and 

 pleasant bitter, 



