148 I. RANUNCULACE^. Hydrastis. 



barren flowers with numerous slender filaments and yellow anthers, the fertile 

 ones smaller, with shorter stamens. Fruit oval, striate. May. 



2 T, CoRNUTi. (T. Corynellum. DC.) Meadow Rue. 



1/^5. obtusely 3-lobed, paler underneath \ fis. 9 J^ ; filaments clavate ; fr. 

 sessile striate.— A handsome herbaceous plant, common in meadows. Stem 



3 4f high smooth, hollow, jointed, furrowed. Leaves resembling those of the 



columbine' (Aquilegia), green above, smooth, several times compounded. 

 Leaflets 1—2' long, f as wide. Petioles sheathing at base. Panicles large 

 and difiuse. The barren flowers have numerous club-shaped stamens, with 

 oblong yellow anthers. Fertile flowers smaller and less crowded. Jn. Jl. 



3. T. ANEMONoiDES. Michx. (Anemone thalictroides. Linn.') Rue Ane- 



Moral Its. petiolate, simple, whorled, resembling an involucrum ; radical 

 Ivx biternate ; fls. umbeled.— Woods and pastures, Northern, Middle, and West- 

 ern States. The root of this little herbaceous plant consists of several oblong 

 tubercles. Stem erect, 6—8' high, slender, bearing several white flowers at top 

 in a sort of umbel. Leaves i—V long, | as wide, cordate at base, 3-lobed, on 

 petioles i— 1^ long; radical common petioles 2 — 4' long. Apr. May. 



18. MYOS0RUS. Dill. 

 Gr. [xvs, ixvos, mouse, ovpa, tail; alluding to the long spike of carpela. 



Sepals 5, produced downwards at base below tbeir insertion; 

 petals 5, with slender, tubular claws ; stamens 5 — 20 ; achenia very 

 closely spicate on the elongated torus. — ® Lvs. linear^ entire^ radical. 

 Scapes l-Jiowered. 



M. MINIMUS. (M. Shortii. Raf.) Mouse-tail. 



Prairies and bottoms. 111., Mead ! to La. and Oreg., Nuttall. A diminutive 

 plant remarkable for its little terete spikelet of fruit, which is often an inch 

 long.' Leaves 1—3' long, 1—2" wide. Scape a little taller, with a single 

 minute pale-yellow flower at top. Apr. 



19. ZANTHORHlZA. 



Gr. ^av^os, yellow, pi^a, root. 



Sepals 5 ; petals 5, of 2 roundish lobes, raised on a pedicel ; sta- 

 mens 5 — 10; ovaries 5—10, beaked with the styles, 2 — 3-ovuled ; 

 follicles mostly 1 -seeded, seed suspended. — Suffruticose; st. and bark 

 yellow and hitter. Lvs. finnately divided. Rac. axillary., compound, 

 Fls. small, dark purple, often 9 $ cJ*- 



Z. APiiFOLiA. L'Her. (Z. simplicissima. MicJix.) 



River banks, Penn. to Ga. Root thick. Stem short, woody, leafy above. 

 Leaves glabrous, about 8' long, including the long petioles. Leaflets 5, 2 — 3' 

 long sessile, inciselv lobed and dentate. Racemes many-flowered, appearing 

 with the leaves. Follicles spreading, U" long. March, April. 



20. HYDRASTIS. 



Gr. vScop, water; the plant grows in watery places. 



Sepals 3, ovate, petaloid, equal ; corolla ; stamens 00, a little 

 shorter than the sepals ; baccate fruit composed of numerous, aggre- 

 gate, 1 -seeded acines. — 1].ioith 2 lvs. and \ Jlowcr. 



H. Canadensis. Turmeric-root. 



The only species. It grows in bog meadows. Can. to Car. and Ky. ! Rare. 

 Root of a deep yellow color internally. Stem 6—9' high, becoming purplish, 

 hairv above. Leaves 2 only, alternate, on the upper part of the stem, petiolate, 

 emarginate at base, palmate, with 3—5 lobes. Peduncle terminal, solitary, 

 1-flowered. Sepals reddish white, of short duration. Fruit red, juicy, resem- 

 bling the raspberry. Seeds nearly black. May, Jn. 



