mM, ORD.—ROSACEA:. 
GENUS.—GEUM,* LINN. 
SEX. SYST.—ICOSANDRIA POLYGYNIA. 
GEUM RIVALE. 
WATER AVENS. 
SYN.—GEUM RIVALE, LINN. 
COM. NAMES.—PURPLE OR WATER AVENS, CHOCOLATE-ROOT; (FR.) 
BENOITE AQUATIQUE; (GER.) SUMPFNELKENWURZEL. 
A TINCTURE OF THE WHOLE PLANT, GEUM RIVALE, LINN. 
Description.—This beautiful perennial plant, distinguished on account of its 
hibiscus-like petals, grows to a height of from one to two feet. Root creeping, lig- 
neous, giving off numerous fibrous rootlets. Séem simple or nearly so, hairy. Leaves 
of two kinds: those from the root on long deeply grooved petioles, lyrate and ir- 
regularly pinnate; those of the stem few, nearly sessile, more or less lyrate below 
and 3-lobed above, serrate, pointed; sépules ovate, incised. /xflorescence terminal on 
long, sometimes branched, peduncles; flowers few, large and handsome, nodding on 
bracted pedicels. Calyx erect, concave below, 5-lobed, with 5 alternating bractlets in 
the sinuses. Petals 5, erect, retuse, dilated obovate, contracted into aclaw at the base. 
Stamens numerous, inserted into a stipitate disk in the cup of the calyx ; anthers in- 
trorse, opening by a longitudinal slit or pore. Pistils many ; ovary hairy; styles 
long, with flexed tips. /yruta dense, hairy, conical head, situated upon an erect 
stalk arising from the cup of the calyx; seeds oval, bearded, the epicarp retaining 
the persistent style, which is now hispid below and plumose above the angular 
flexion ef the style. 
Rosacew.—This grand natural order is represented in North America by 35 
genera, 213 species, and 92 varieties, aside from innumerable cultivated specimens. 
The general characters of the order are: Plants consisting of trees, shrubs and 
herbs, and furnishing our most valuable fruits. Leaves alternate; stipules gener- 
ally present though sometimes early deciduous, Flowers regular, handsome. 
Calyx of 5 to 8 sepals united to form the calyx-tube; in some species with a sec- 
ond set as bractlets, outside of, and alternate with, the sepals. Pefa/s as many as 
the sepals, and inserted with the stamens upona thin disk that lines the calyx-tube. 
Stamens very numerous, perigynous; filaments slender. ists one or many, 
_ * Pew, geuo; a pleasant flavor, one of the species having aromatic roots. 
