PiEONIA. 



PiEONIA. 



Sepals 5, leafy, unequal. Petals 5-10, roundish. Stamens 

 numerous. Disk fleshy surrounding the ovaries. Carpels 2-5, 

 with double thick stigmas. Follicles fleshy, many-seeded. 

 Seeds numerous, dry, round. 



38. P. officinalis Retz. obs. hi, 35. Bot. mag. t. 1784. DC. 

 prodr. i. 65. — Uaiovuz. &v)X«a, Dioscorides, according to Sibth. 

 rXvKva-^ri SyXeix, Dioscorides, according to Spreng. — Woods and 

 groves in various parts of Europe, especially in the south. 



Herbaceous. Carpels downy nearly, straight. Segments of the leaves 

 unequally slashed, smooth, with ovate-lanceolate lobes. — Seeds emetic 

 and cathartic. Root reportd to be antispasmodic. 



39. P. corallina Retz. is said to be the Tlaiovta. or rKvKva-i^ 

 a-ppriv of Dioscorides. 



PODOPHYLLEiE. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 7. 



PODOPHYLLUM. 



Sepals 3. Petals 6-9. Stamens 12-18. Fruit fleshy, 

 1 -celled, many-seeded, crowned by the crenated sessile stigma. 



40. P. peltatum Linn, sp.pl. 722. DC. prodr. i. 111. Bi- 

 geloiu med. bot. ii. t. 23. Barton mat. med.'u. t. 25. — Low shady 

 situations in the United States. (May Apple, Mandrake in 

 North America.) 



Rhizoma jointed, about half the size of the finger, spreading exten- 

 sively in rich grounds, where it gets introduced. Stem about 1 foot in 

 height, and invested at its base by the sheaths which covered it when 

 in bud ; smooth, round, erect, dividing at top into two round petioles 

 from 3 to 6 inches long ; each petiole supports a large peltate palmate 

 leaf, smooth above, slightly pubescent beneath, deeply divided into 

 about seven lobes, which are wedge-shaped, 2-parted, and toothed at 

 the extremity. In barren stems which support but one leaf, the pel- 

 tate character is most perfect. Flower solitary in the fork of the stem, 

 on a round nodding peduncle 1 or 2 inches long. Sepals 3, oval, ob- 

 tuse, concave, cohering in the bud by their scarious margins, and break- 

 ing off' at the base, when the flower expands. Petals from 6 to 9, but 

 more frequently 7, even in luxuriant specimens ; obovate, obtuse, con- 

 cave, smooth, white, with slight transparent veins. Stamens shorter than 

 the petals, curving upwards ; anthers oblong, twice as long as their fila- 

 13 



