178 RANUNCULACEAE 



long-petioled, about equaling the stems, 4-10 mm. long, leaflets entire or divided nearly or quite 

 to the base into narrowly oblong or oblong-oblanceolate divisions, glaucous; peduncle slender, 

 scarcely equaling the leaf; flower solitary; sepals white or tinged with pink, 4-5 mm. long; 

 filaments broadest near the middle; follicles 6-8 mm. long, distinctly stipitate, 3-5-seeded. 



Edges of thickets, Transition Zone; near Oakland, Douglas County, Oregon, to the eastern edge of the 

 Siskiyou Mountains and southward to Mendocino County, California. Type locality: near Yreka, California. 

 Feb.-April. 



3. Isopyrum Hallii A. Gray. Willamette Rue- Anemone. Fig. 1768. 



Isopyrum Hallii A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 8: 374. 1872. 

 Enemion Hallii Drum. & Hutch. Kew Bull. 1920: 161. 1920. 



Stems erect, arising from fasciculate fusiform roots, 3-10 dm. high. Basal leaves long- 

 petioled ; stem leaves usually two, leaflets 2-5 cm. long, broadly obovate-cuneate, deeply 3-lobed, 

 the lobes several-toothed; flowers in 3-8-flowered terminal umbellate cymes; pedicels 2.5-3.5 

 cm. long; sepals white, 8-10 mm. long; stamens numerous, the filaments clavellate, very slender 

 below; follicles 4-5, spreading, 4-5 mm. long; seeds 2-4, roughened. 



Along mountain streams in deep woods, Humid Transition Zone; Coast Ranges and western slopes of the 

 Cascade Mountains on both sides of the Willamette Valley, Oregon. Type locality: Oregon, exact station not 

 known. June-July. 



5. COPTIS Salisb, Trans. Linn. Soc. 8:305. 1803. 



Low glabrous scapose perennial herbs, with slender, yellow, bitter rootstocks. Leaves 

 basal, long-petioled, the coriaceous and persistent blades compound or divided. Flowers 

 solitary or few, terminal, white or tinged with green or yellow. Sepals petaloid, deciduous, 

 in ours, narrowly ligulate. Petals narrowly ligulate, nectariferous near the middle. 

 Stamens numerous. Carpels few, stipitate. Fruit an umbellate cluster of stipitate fol- 

 licles. Seeds several, smooth and shining. [Name Greek, meaning to cut, in allusion to 

 the divided leaves.] 



About nine species, natives of the cool north temperate and subarctic regions of North America and Asia. 

 Our species belong to the subgenus Chrysocoptis. Type species, Coptis trifolia (L.) Salisb. 



Leaflets 3-lobed to about the middle. 1. C. occidentalis. 



Leaflets 3-parted nearly or quite to the base. 2. C. laciniata. 



1. Coptis occidentalis (Nutt.) Torr. & Gray. Idaho Gold-thread. Fig. 1769. 



Chrysocoptis occidentalis Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. 7: 8. 1834. 

 Coptis occidentalis Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 28. 1838. 



Leaves basal, arising from the crown of a slender rootstock; petioles slender, 5—15 cm. 

 long; leaflets 3, petiolulate, broadly ovate in outline, 2.5-5 cm. broad, 3-lobed to near the middle, 

 the middle lobe again shallowly 3-5-lobed, serrate with rather abruptly mucronulate teeth ; scape 

 10-15 cm. high, 2-3-flowered; peduncles 3-8 cm. long, longitudinally ribbed; sepals narrowly 

 ligulate, 7—10 mm. long, 3-nerved, yellowish; petals narrowly ligulate above, nectariferous and 

 somewhat enlarged near the middle, nearly filiform below ; follicles 7 or 8, rarely fewer, 10-12 

 mm. long, smooth, on stipes about half as long. 



Moist woods, Canadian Zone; eastern borders of Washington in Stevens County, and adjacent British 

 Columbia, east to western Montana. Type locality: northern Idaho or western Montana. April-May. 



2. Coptis laciniata A. Gray. Oregon Gold-thread. Fig. 1770. 



Coptis laciniata A. Gray, Bot. Gaz. 12: 297. 1887. 



Closely resembling the preceding species. Leaflets a little narrower, 3-parted nearly or quite 

 to the midrib, the lobes and serrations narrower and more acute ; flowers and fruits essentially 

 the same as in the preceding species. 



Moist coniferous forests, mainly Humid Transition Zone; Skamania County, southwestern Washington, 

 southward through the Coast Ranges to Mendocino County, California. Somewhat intermediate forms occur 

 on the western slope of the Cascade Mountains, Oregon. Type locality: Oregon. March-April. 



6. ACTAEA L. Sp. PI. 504. 1753. 



Erect, tall perennial herbs, with ternately compound leaves. Flowers small, white, in 

 terminal racemes. Sepals 3-5, petaloid, fugaceous. Petals 4-10, small, clawed. Stamens 

 numerous, with slender filaments and short anthers. Pistil solitary, many-ovuled; stigma 

 broad, sessile. Fruit a red or white, somewhat poisonous berry. Seeds many, in two 

 rows, horizontal. [The ancient Greek name of the elder.] 



A genus of 6 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, two other species occur 

 in eastern North America. Type species, Actaea sptcata L. 



1. Actaea arguta Nutt. Western Red Baneberry. Fig. 1771. 



Actaea arguta Nutt. ex Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 35. 1838. 

 Actaea spicata var. arguta Torr. Pacif. R. Rep. 4: 63. 1856. 



Stems rather stout, 4-8 dm. high, branching above, sparsely and minutely pubescent, sub- 



