RANUNCULACE^. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 45 



12. TROLL I US, L. Globe-flowee, 



Sepals 5-15, petal-like. Petals nuuierous, small, 1 -lipped, the concavity 

 near the base. Stamens and pistils numerous. Pods 9 or more, sessile, manv- 

 seeded. — Smooth perennials with palmatelv parted and cut leaves, like Ra- 

 nunculus, and large solitary terminal flowers. (Xame thought to be derived 

 from the old German word troll, a globe, or something round.) 



1. T. laxus, Salisb. (Spreading Globe-flower.) Leaves 5 - 7-parted ; 

 sepals 5-6, spreading; petals 15-25, inconspicuous, much shorter than the 

 stamens. — Deep swamps, N. H. to Del. and Mich. May. — Flowers twice 

 the size of the common Buttercup ; the sepals spreading, so that the name is 

 not appropriate, as it is to the European Globe-Jlou-er of the gardens, nor is the 

 blossom showy, being pale greenish-yellow, or nearly white. 



13. COPTIS, Salisb. Goldthread. 



Sepals 5-7, petal-like, deciduous. Petals 5-7, small, club-shaped, hollow 

 at the apex. Stamens 15-25. Pistils 3-7, on slender stalks. Pods diver- 

 gent, membranaceous, pointed with the style, 4-8-seeded. — Low smooth 

 perennials, with teruately divided root-leaves, and small white flowers on 

 scapes (Name from kotttw, to cut, alluding to the divided leaves.) 



1 C. trif61ia, Salisb (Threk-leaved Goldthread.) Leaflets 3, 

 obovate-wedge-form, sharply toothed, obscurely 3-lobed , scape 1 -flowered. — 

 Bogs, abundant northward; extending south to jNIarvland along the moun- 

 tains, and west to Iowa. May. — Koot o^^ long, bright yellow, bitter fibres- 

 Leaves evergreen, shining Scape naked, slender, 3-5' high. (Eu.) 



14. HELLEBORUS, Tourn. Hellebore. 



Sepals 5, petal-like or greenish, persistent. Petals 8-10, very small, tubu- 

 lar, 2-lipped. Pistils 3- 10, sessile, forming coriaceous many-seeded pods. — 

 Perennial herbs, with ample palmate or pedate leaves, and large, solitary, 

 nodding, early vernal flowers. (An ancient name of unknown meaning.) 



H. vfuiDis, L. (GuEEN Hellebore.) Root-leaves glabrous, pedate; 

 calvx spreading, greenish. — Has been found wild on Long Island, in Penn., 

 and W Va. (Adv. from Eu.) 



15. E RANT HIS, Salisb Winter Aconitk. 



Sepals 5- 8, petal-like, deciduous. Petals small 2-lipped nectaries. Carpels 

 few, stipitate, several-seeded. — Perennial herbs, with palmatelv multifid radi- 

 cal leaves, the scape bearing a single large yellow flower surrounded by an 

 involucre of a single leaf. (Name from ^p, spring, and auOos.JJoicer.) 



E. hvem.\lis, Salisb. Dwarf; flowers cup-shaped, Ij' in diameter ; petal- 

 shorter than the stamens. — Near Philadelphia. (Adv. from Eu.) 



16. AQUILEGIA, Tourn. Columbine. 



Sepals 5, regular, colored like the petals. Petals 5, all alike, with a short 

 spreading lip, produced backward into large hollow spurs, much longer than 

 the calyx. Pistils 5. with slender styles. Pods erect, many -seeded. — Per- 

 ennials, with 2 - 3-ternately compound leaves, the leaflets lobed. Flowers 

 large and showy terminating the branches. (Xame from aqnilegus, water- 

 drawinfr.) 



