40 POLYANDRIA— POLYGYNIA. Thalictrum. 



Vitis nigra. Fuchs. Hist.97.f. /c.53./. 

 Vitalba. Dod. Pempt. 404./. 



In hedges, especially on a calcareous soil. 



Shrub. July. 



Stems woody, angular, climbing to a great extent, or pendulous 

 from broken precipices or old walls, branched, entangled, sup- 

 ported on other shrubs by their permanent, hardened, twining 

 footstalks. Leaves deciduous ; their leajiets 5, stalked, heart- 

 shaped, pointed, finely hairy, either quite entire, unequally cut, 

 or coarsely serrated. Panicles axillary and terminal, forked, 

 many-flowered, downy. Fl. white, with a sweet almond-like 

 scent. Pet. 4, most downy at the outside. Seeds with long, 

 wavy, feathery and silky tails, forming beautiful tufts, conspicu- 

 ous in wet weather. They retain their vegetative principle for 

 many years, if kept dry. 



277. THALICTRUM. Meadow-rue. 



Linn. Gen. 280. J uss. 232. FL Br. 583. Tourn. t. 143. Lam. 

 t.A07. Gcertn.t.74. DeCand. Si/st.v. 1. 168. 



Nat. Ord. See w. 270—273, and 275—282. 



Cal. none. Pet. 4- or .h, inferior, roundish, obtuse, concave, 

 imbricated in the bud, deciduous. Filain. numerous, ca- 

 pillary, somewhat thickened at the upper part, various 

 in length. Anth. terminal, oblong, drooping, bursting 

 at the edges. Germ, several, superior, ovate, striated. 

 Styles none. Stigmas oblique, ovate, tumid, downy. Seeds 

 as many as the germens, ovate, furrowed, or winged, 

 without any terminal appendage. 



Perennial herbs, somewhat fetid and acrid. Roots fibrous, 

 or partly fleshy, often yellow. Leaves, except in one In- 

 dian species, repeatedly compound, generally very smooth; 

 leaflets lobed, or notched, variable. Fl. panicled, droop- 

 ing or erect, whitish, or pale yellow, not splendid. The 

 stamens and pistils vary with respect to number in some 

 species, and the former are singularly dilated in T. pcta- 

 loideum, of which stamincum proves, by the Linna?an her- 

 barium, to be scarcely a variety. Some American ones 

 are dioecious. A few have 5 petals. 



1 . T. alpinum. Alpine Meadow-rue. 



Stem perfectly simple and almost naked, with a simple ter- 

 minal cluster. 



T. alpinum. Lmn. Sp. PL 767. Willd.v. 2. 1295. FL Br. 584. 

 EngL Bot. V. 4 . t. 262. Light/. 286. M 3./. I . Dicks. H. Sice . 



