BERBKRIDACEiE. 28 LEONTICC. 



on being touched exhibit a remarkable degree of irritability by springing vio- 

 lently against the stigma. Berries oblong, scarlet, very acid, and when boiled 

 with sugar form an agreeable jelly. The bark of the root dyes yellow. Jn. 



Berberry Bush.. 



2. PODOPHY'LLUM. 



Calyx of 3 sepals, caducous; corolla G — 9-petalled ; stamens 

 numerous, with linear anthers; berrj 1-telled. crowned with 

 the single stifrnia. 



Gr. TFO'ji, -T^odoi, a foot and CpvyXav, a leaf; in allusion to the long, firm 

 petioles. Cal. of 3, oval, obtuse, concave leaves, falling when the flower ex- 

 pands. Pet. obov. concave, smooth, longer than stam. Anth. as long agaia 

 as til. Fr. large, ovate. Low neat herbs. 



P. PELTATUM. 



Leaves peltate, lobed ; fioircrs 3. Grows in woods and cultivated grounds, 

 especially common in Western N. Y. It is among our more curious and inte- 

 resting plants. Grows about a foot high. Stem round, sheatlied at base, erect, 

 dividing into '2, round leaf-stalks, between which grows the flower. The leaves 

 are large, smooth, deeply divided into 5 — 7 lobes, which are each 2-parted and 

 dentate at the end. They are often peltate, but generally separate at base 

 quite to the petiole. The flower is stalked, drooping, white with a 3-leaved, 

 caducous calyx, and a corolla of about G petals, often more, curiously reticula- 

 ted with veins. Fruit about the size of a plum, ovate, yellowish, acid, eatable, 

 ripening early. The root is cathartic. May. ?ct. May afptc. Wild Mandrake. 



3. JEFFERSO'NIA. 



Calyx of 4 sepals, colored, deciduous; corolla of 8 petals, 

 incurved, spreading ; stamens 8, surrounding the ovary ; cap- 

 sules obovate, stipitate, opening by a circumscissile dehiscence. 



Named after President JeiFerson.who was distinguished as a patron of science. 

 Small plants, remarkable cluefly for the curious structure of the capsule, which 

 opens like a snuti'-box. 



J. diphy'lla. 



Acaulescent ; pedimcles naked, l-Rowered; hares in pn'iis. A singular little 

 plant, half a foot hio-h, growing in calcarious soils, N. Y. and Ohio. Petioles 

 all radical, each bearing at the top a pair of binate leaves, which are placed 

 base to basif, and broader than long, ending in r^n obtuse point. Bracts lanceo- 

 late, entire, at the bases of the petioles. Scape as long as the petioles, 1 -flow- 

 ered. Flowers large, regular, white, starlike. The capsule opens only half 

 round, and has, therefore, a persistent lid. Thia plant has, in Ohio, the repu- 

 tation of a stimulant and antispasmodic, and is there significantly termed 



Rheumatism Root 



4. LEO'NTICE. 



Calyx 6-sepaled, inferior; corolla 6-pctaled ; cells of the 

 anther opening at the edge; capsule berry-like, 1-celled. 



Gr. >.tojVj a lion ; the leaf is likened to a lion's foot-track. Nectaries (i, 

 attached to the claws of the petals. Seed naked and stiped after having burst 

 its caducous pericarp. 



