28 RANUNCULACE^. Coptis 



lar at the base. Stamens and ovaries numerous. Follicles numerous, ses- 

 sile, somewhat cylindrical, many-seeded. — Perennial glabrous herbs ; with 

 fibrous-fasciculate roots, and palmately divided leaves ; the segments many- 

 cleft. 



1. T. laxus (Salisb.): sepals 5-6, spreading ; petals 15-25, shorter than 

 the stamens.— 5'a//.s-/>. in Linn, trans. S.p. 303 ; Pursh,f. 2. p. 391 ; Gray ! 

 in Ann. ]yc. New-York, S.p. 222. T. Amcricanus, Miihl.! cat. p. 56'; DC. 

 prndr. I. p. 46 ; Ilook.Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 23. 



Sphagnous swamps, Canada to Pennsylvania ! Delaware ! Eastern de- 

 clivity of the Rocky Mountains, lat. 52° and 55^, Drummond. May.-— 

 Plant 1-2 feet high, erect. Flowers twice as large as in Ranunculus acris. 

 Sepals ochroleucous with a tinge of green beneath. Petals minute, much 

 shorter than the stamens, deep orange-yellow. Carpels 8-15. 



10. COPTIS. Salisb. in Linn, trans. S.p. 305. 



Sepals 5-6, petaloid, deciduous. Petals 5-6. Stamens 15-25. Follicles 

 5-10 ; on long stipes, somewhat stellately diverging, membranaceous, 

 ovate-oblong, pointed with the style, 4:-S-seeded.— Herbs with radical, di- 

 vided, subcoriaceous leaves, and very slender extensively creeping roots. 



§ 1. Petals very small, citcidlate-obconic. — Chryza, Raf. 



1. C. trifolia (Salisb.): leaves 3-foIiolate ; leaflets cuneiform-obovate, 

 crenately and mucronately toothed, obscurely 3-lobed ; scape 1-floAvered. — 

 Salisb. I. c. ; Pursh,jl. 2. p. 390 ; DC. prodr. 1. p. 47 ; Hook. ! f. Bor.-Am. 

 1. p. 23 ; Bigel. med. bot. 1. t. 5. Helleborus trifolius, Linn. ; Michx. fl. 

 1. p. 325. Chrysa borealis, Raf. in Desv. jour. bot. 2. p. 170. 



Bogs, Greenland, and Labrador ! to Pennsylvania! North West America! 

 Sitcha! Unalaschka! May- June.— Roots consisting of long bright-yelloAV 

 fibres, intensely bitter. Leaves evergreen; leaflets about an inch long. 

 Scape slender, 3-5 inches high. Sepals 5-7, oblong, obtuse, white. Petals 

 much shorter than the sepals, yelloAv at the base. Carpels acuminated with 

 the persistent style. Seeds oblong, black and shining ; raphe very indis- 

 tinct, ■ 



§ 2. Petals and sepals linear^ co5«sm//ar.— Chrysocoptis, Kutt. 



2. C. occ?V/e»to//5; leaves 3-foliolate; leaflets petiolulate, broadly ovate, 

 subcordatc, 3-lobed, incisely toothed ; scape short, 3-flowered.— Chrysocoptis 

 occidentalis, Nutt.! in jour. acad. Phil ad. 7. p. 9. t. 1. 



Rocky Mountains, Mr. VVyeth /—Roots long and slender, bright 

 yellow, arising from a short thick rhizoma. Leaves sempervirent, dark green, 

 about an inch and a half long, and nearly of the same breadth. Flowers on 

 very short pedicels. Petals about 6, with claws, similar to the sepals and of 

 equal length, not hooded. Ovaries 8-10. Fruit not seen. A%«.— Habit and 

 leaves of C. trifolia: flowers near C. asplcnifolia. The scape probably 

 lengthens in maturity. 



§ 3. Petals and sepals somewhat similar : petals dilated and cucullate 

 in the middle, longer than the sepaZs.— Pterophyllum, Nutt. 



3. C. asplenifoUa (Salisb.): leaves bitemate; leaflets somewhat pinna- 



