RANUNCULAClC.t:. (CUOWI-OOT FAMILY.) 3 



1. ATRAGENE, L. 



Sepals 4, colored, membranaceous, spreading, valvate in the bud, deciduous. 

 Petals numerous, stamen-like. Stamens indefinite. Ovaries numerous, 1-ovuled. 

 Aclienia capitate, bearing the persistent styles in the form of long plumose-beard- 

 ed tails. Seed suspended. — Shrubby vines, climbing by the petioles. Leaves 

 opposite, compound, from scaly buds. Flowers solitaiy, showy. 



1 . A. Americana, Sims. Leaves in opposite pairs, ternate ; leaflets 

 stalked, ovate, acute, entire or toothed, sometimes slightly cordate ; peduncles 

 opposite ; sepals oblong-ovate. — Mountains of North Carolina and northward. 

 April -May. — Flowers 2' -3' in diameter, purple. 



2. CLEMATIS, L. Virgin's-Bower. 



Petals none. Persistent styles naked or plumose. Otherwise as Atragene. — 

 Herbs or shrubby vines. Leaves simple or compound, opposite. Buds not 

 scaly. Flowers solitary or panicled, often polygamous or dioecious. 



* Flowers solitary, noddling : calyx thick or leathery. 

 ■f- Stems erect, mostly simple, herbaceous. 



1. C. octiroleuca, Ait. Silky-pubescent; leaves ovate or roundish, en- 

 tire, reticulate, nearly sessile, at length smooth above ; tails of the achenia ( 1 ^' 

 long) plumose. — Upper districts of Georgia and northward. May- June. — 

 Stems 1° high. Flowers yellowish, 1' long. 



2. C. Baldwinii, Ton-. & Gray. Stems mostly simple, slender, slightly 

 pubescent ; leaves oblong, varying to linear-lanceolate, entire, or with three often 

 divided lobes; peduncles elongated ; tails of the achenia (2' -3' long) very slen- 

 der, plumose. — South Florida. — Stems 1° - 1^° high. Peduncles 8' - 10' long. 

 Flowers purple, yellowish witiiin, the sepals woolly on the margins. 



+- -t- Stems climbing, herbaceous. 



3. C. OVata, Pursh. Smooth ; stems erect or climbing ; leaves broadly 

 ovate, shoi-t-petioled, reticulate, glaucous beneath, the lowest sometimes com- 

 pound or cordate ; sepals ovate, acuminate, pubescent on the margins ; tails of 

 the achenia very long, plumose. — Mountains of Georgia, Carolina, and Ten- 

 nessee. — Flowers purple?, inchned. — Probably a form of the next. ( * ) 



4. C. Viorna, L. Smoothish ; leaves pinnate; leaflets 5-7, oval, or ob- 

 long-ovate, mostly acute, somewhat membranaceous, entire or 2-3-lobed, the 

 lowest pair often ternate ; calyx ovate ; sepals ovate, tapering into a short re- 

 cun-ed point, not margined, rather longer than the stamens ; tails of the achenia 

 (1^'long) plumose. — River-banks. May -August. — Flowers nodding. Sepals 

 thick, reddish purple, 1' long. 



."5. C. crispa, L. Stem sparingly pubescent ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 

 5-7 ovate, thin, 3-lobed or teraate ; those of the upper leaves entire, of the low- 

 est lanceolate or linear ; calyx campanulate ; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, twice 

 as long as the stamens, the margins broad and wavy ; tails of the achenia (1' 

 long) rigid ; silky-pubescent. (C. Walteri, Pu/-s/i. C. cylindrica, 5mis. C. line- 



