36 RANUNCULACEiE. Cimicifcq 



nial herbs. Leaves 2-3-ternately divided ; segments incisely serrate. 

 Flowers in virgate racemes, white. 



§ 1. Monogynoxis : carpels suhglobose: seeds compressed^ smooth^ hori- 

 zontal: staminodia several, very small, with long claws. — Macrotys, 

 Raf. (Botrophis, Raf. ; Fisch. f Meyer.) 



1. C. racemosa (Ell.): racemes very long; leaflets ovate-oblong, incisely 

 toothed; staminodia slender, 2-forked.— £//. sk. 2. p. 16. C. serpentaria, 

 Pur.^h, ft. 2. p. 372. Actaa racemosa, Linn.; Michx. ! ft. 1. p. 308; DC. 

 prodr. i. p. 64; HooTi. ji. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 27. A. monogy'na, Walt. Car. p. 

 151. Macrotys actaoides, Raf. in Desv. jour. hot. 2. p. 170. Botrophis 

 serpentaria, Raf. med. Ji. 1. p. 85. B. acta^oides, Fisch. ^ Meyer, I. c. 



Woods, Canada! to Georgia! and Western States. July. — Root thick 

 and knotted, with long fibres. Stem 3-8 feet high, glabrous, furrowed, 

 leafy near the middle. Leaves 3-ternate: leaflets 2-3 inches long. Ra- 

 cemes branching, 6-12 inches long: pedicels 3-4 lines in length, bracteate. 

 Flowers very fetid. Sepals caducous, greenish-white, concave. Stamino- 

 dia 4-8 ! Carpels globose-ovate, glabrous. Seeds 7-8, compressed and 

 angular as in Actsa. — De CandoUe states that the flowers are sometimes 

 digynous ; but we have never observed more than a single ovary in a flower. 



§ 2. Di-octogynous {rarely monogynous): follicles pod-shaped: seeds 

 flat, vertical, echinate with little scales : staminodia several, spatidate, 

 or concave and nectariferous at the base ; rarely none. — Cimicifuga, 

 Fisch. & Meyer. 



2. C. cordifolia (Pursh) : leaves biternate ; leaflets broadly cordate, 3-5- 

 lobed ; ovaries 1-3, glabrous ; petals spatulate, bifid ; follicles oblong, sessile. 

 — Pursh, JI. 2. p. 373 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 17. (excl. syn.) ; Fisch. ^ Mey. I. c. ; 

 Bot. mag. t. 2069. C. Americana, MuM. ! cat. ed. 2. p. 54. Actaa cordi- 

 folia, DC. prodr. 1. p. 64. 



Shady woods on his:h mountains of Carohna, Pursh, Muhlenberg! — 

 About 3 feet high. Leaflets inequilateral, large. Racemes paniculate, elon- 

 gated, glabrous. Sepals 5, nearly orbicular. Petals 2-3 (or none), cleft 

 nearly one-third their length ; the segments obtuse and thickened. FolHcles 

 about three-fourths of an inch long, acuminate with a short hooked beak. 

 Seeds 8-10, oblong, thickly invested with brown chaff'y scales. 



3. C. elata (Nutt. ! mss.) : " leaves bhemate ; leaflets cordate, lobed, in- 

 cisely toothed, pubescent beneath ; ovaries 2-3, glabrous ; petals none ; fol- 

 licles oblong, sessile."— C. foetida, Pursh, fl. 2. p. 373? 



" Shady woods of the Oregon.— Much taller than C. cordifoha (6-8 feet 

 high), with the leaves smaller, thinner, and more distinctly lobed. The 

 flowers smaller and rather distant, instead of being crowded." iVM«.— Ra- 

 cemes short and paniculate, as in C. foetida; while in C. cordata they are 

 elongated, as in C. racemosa. The petals seem to be always wanting in C, 

 elata. 



4. C. Americana. (Michx.) : leaves triternate ; segments ovate ; the ter- 

 minal 3-parted or 3-cleft, incisely lobed, cuneiform or subcordate at the 

 base ; ovaries 2-5, stipitate, glabrous ; petals concave, sessile, nectariferous 

 at the base, 2-lobed ; foflicles obovate, on slender stipes.— il//c/?.-i\ .' /. 1. p. 

 316 ; Fisch. (f- Mey. I. c. C. podocarpa. Ell. sk. 2. p. 16. Actaa podocarpa, 

 DC. prodr. l.p. 64 ; Deless. ic. 1. t. 66. A. pentacarpa, Michx..' herb. 



High mountains of North Carolina, Michaux ! Mr. Curtis! Pennsylva- 

 nia and Virginia, Mr. J. McXab .'—About four feet high, glabrous. Leaflets 



