POLYANDRIA— POLYGYNIA, Caltha. 59 



Veratrum nigrum tertium. Dod. Pempt. 386./. 



In thickets and waste ground, on a chalky soil. 



More common than the last in chalk countries. On the castle hill, 

 at Castle-Acre, Norfolk, abundantly. 



Perennial, March, April. 



Taller and more branched than the foregoing. Herbage perennial, 

 smooth, of a more lurid green. Fl. numerous, panicled, droop- 

 ing, smaller and more closed, tinged about the edges with pur- 

 ple. Nect. notched. Leaves stalked, truly pedate, of 7 or 9 

 lanceolate, serrated leaflets; upper ones, or rather their /oo^- 

 stalks, gradually becoming pale, lanceolate, entire hracteas. 

 Caps. 3 or 4. The whole herb is fetid, acrid, violently cathartic, 

 though it has in England been more frequently used than the 

 H. viridis, on the credit of the Greek Hellebore. 



282. CALTHA. Marsh-marigold. 



Limz. GcH. 283. J«ss. 234. Fl.Br.b90. Lam. t. 500. Gcertn. 

 t. 118. DeCaml. Syst. v. 1 . 306. 



Populago. Tourn.t. 145. 



Nat. Ord. see n. 279. 



Cat. none. Pet. 5 or more, inferior, ovate, or elliptical, 

 nearly flat, spreading. Nect. none. Filam. numerous, 

 rather swelling upwards, shorter than the corolla. Aiith. 

 tei'minal, erect, oblong, of 2 lobes, bursting at the outer 

 edges. Germ, superior, 5 to 10, erect, oblong, com- 

 pressed. Styles none. Stigmas obtuse. Caps, {follicles,) 

 as many as the germens, cylindrical, pointed, two-edged, 

 erect or spreading, bursting at the upper edge. Seeds 

 numerous, from the margins of the capsule, oval, with a 

 small rounded prominence at the extremity. 



Perennial smooth herbs, slightly acrid, natives of watery si- 

 tuations, with simple leaves, and yeWow Jloxaers. Those 

 of the southern hemisphere have, as M. DeCandolle re- 

 marks, permanent petals, or, as he considers it, a per- 

 manent calyx ; in those of northern climates the same 

 part is deciduous. Two species, C. asarifolia and Icpto- 

 petala, have numerous narrow petals, differing from the 

 rest as Hammculus Ficaria does from other species of 

 Rammculus ; but M. DeCandolle is too judicious to se- 

 parate them, on that account, from the rest. 



1. C palustris. Common Marsh-marigold. 

 Stem erect. Leaves heart-shaped, rounded. 

 C. palustris. Linn. Sp. PL 784. mild. v. 2. 1338. FL Br. 599. 

 Comp. ed. 4. 98. EngL Sot. v. 8. t. 506. Curt. Lond.fasc. 1 . 



