CROWFOOT FAMILY 215 



Ranunculus testiculars Crantz, Stirp. Aust. fasc. 2: 97. 1763. Terrestrial; scapes less than 1 dm. tall, 

 densely pilose- leaves all basal, the blade of each continued into a wing which extends the entire length of the 

 petiole 3-parted the lateral segments cleft, the divisions linear; sepals narrowly elliptical, 3-5 mm. long, 

 densely tomentose. acute, persistent in fruit; petals 5, yellow, 4-6 mm. long, oblanceolate; achenes about 30-50 

 in an elongated cylindrical spike, each achene beak lanceolate, about 4 mm. long by 1 mm. broad, densely tomen- 

 tose the bodv with two lateral empty vesicles. Introduced along roadsides in the sagebrush regions of eastern 

 Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. Native of the Old World. Probably not distinct from Ranunculus 

 falcatus L. 



16. TRAUTVETTERIA Fisch. & Mey. Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. 1 : 22. 1834. 



Erect perennial herbs, the stems branching at the summit and forming corymbose 

 cymes. Leaves palmately cleft and reticulate-veined, the basal ample and long-petioled, 

 the cauline smaller, short-petioled or sessile. Sepals 3-5, concave, imbricated in the bud, 

 greenish white, caducous. Petals none. Stamens numerous with conspicuous white clavate 

 filaments. Achenes numerous, utricular, strongly nerved on each angle, abruptly tipped by 

 the short recurved style. Seed basal and erect. [Name in honor of Prof. E. R. Traut- 

 vetter, a Russian botanist.] 



A monotypic genus widely distributed over temperate North America and eastern Asia. 



1. Trautvetteria carolinensis (Walt.) Vail. False Bugbane. Fig. 1860. 



Hydrastis carolinensis Walt. Fl. Car. 156. 1788. 



Cimicifuga palmata Michx. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 316. 1803. 



Trautvetteria palmata Fisch. & Mey. Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. 1: 22. 1834. 



Trautvetteria grandis Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 37. 1838. 



Trautvetteria carolinensis Vail, Mem. Torrey Club 2: 42. 1890. 



Trautvetteria fimbriata Greene, Leaflets Bot. Obs. 2: 190. 1912. 



Trautvetteria rotundata Greene, Leaflets Bot. Obs. 2: 191. 1912. 



Stems stout, 5-10 dm. high, glabrous or nearly so. Basal leaves long-petioled, 10-20 cm. 

 broad, deeply 5-11-lobed, the lobes acute, coarsely and irregularly serrate-dentate; flowers in 

 terminal cymose clusters ; sepals 5-6 mm. long ; filaments often 8-10 mm long, about as broad 

 as the anthers ; achenes 3-4 mm. long. 



Mountain streams, Boreal Zones; British Columbia south to the Olympic Mountains and through the 

 Cascades to Trinity and Placer Counties, California, east to the Blue Mountains, Oregon, and across the 

 continent; also in eastern Asia. Type locality: North Carolina. June-Aug. 



17. THALICTRUM [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 545. 1753. 



Erect perennial herbs, some species ill-scented. Leaves ternately decompound, the 

 cauline alternate. Flowers perfect, polygamous or dioecious, usually small, paniculate or 

 racemose. Sepals 4 or 5, caducous, deciduous or persistent, green or petaloid. Petals none. 

 Stamens many, exserted; filaments filiform or dilated above. Achenes usually few, 

 stipitate or sessile, inflated in some species, longitudinally ribbed or nerved, or rarely 

 merely reticulate-veined. [A Greek name for some unknown plant mentioned by 

 Dioscorides.] 



A genus of about 90 species, most abundant in the north temperate zone. Type species, Thalictrum foeti- 

 dum L. 



Flowers perfect. 



Stem scapiform; flowers in a simple raceme; filaments filiform. 

 Stem leafy; flowers paniculate; filaments spatulate. 

 Flowers dioecious; filaments filiform. 

 Achenes distinctly 6-8-ribbed. 



Achenes oblong-ovoid to spindle-shape, neither oblique nor compressed. 



Leaves thin, not distinctly veined; achenes spindle-shape, 6-8 mm. long. 

 Leaves firm, distinctly veined; achenes oblong-ovoid, 4-5 mm. long. 

 Achenes obliquely obovoid and distinctly compressed. 

 Achenes thin-walled and turgid when fresh, becoming compressed and wrinkled when dry, merely reticulate- 

 veined on the sides with only the mid-vein appearing as a rib. 6. I. polycarpum. 



1. Thalictrum alpinum L. Arctic or Dwarf Meadow-Rue. Fig. 1861. 



Thalictrum alpinum L. Sp. PI. 545. 1753. 



Thalictrum monoense Greene, Leaflets Bot. Obs. 2:93. 1910. 



Stems scapiform, 5-30 cm. high, simple, leafless or with a small leaf near the base, glabrous 

 or slightly glandular. Leaves biternate, crowning a slender scaly rootstock; leaflets cuneate- 

 obovate to orbicular, firm, 3-5-lobed, the margins revolute ; flowers in a simple raceme, perfect ; 

 stamens 10, their filaments filiform, about equaling the sepals; achenes 3 mm. long, obliquely 

 obovoid, sessile. 



Alpine meadows, Boreal Zones; generally distributed in the arctic regions of North America and Eurasia. 

 In the Pacific States known only from the White Mountains, California, but occurring also in the Kocky 

 Mountains. Type locality: Europe. June-July. 



2. Thalictrum sparsiflorum Turcz. Few-flowered Meadow-Rue. Fig. 1862. 



Thalictrum sparsiflorum Turcz. in Fisch. & Mey. Ind. Sem. Hort. Petrop. 1 : 40. 1S34. 



Stems leafy, 3-10 dm. high, branching above, glabrous. Leaves 2-3-ternate, the lower petioled, 



