106 CALYCANTHACE^. 



solitary. Albumen none. — Herbaceous plants or under-shrubs. 

 Leaves alternate, simple, lobed or compound. Flowers some- 

 times polygamous or dioecious. 



1. ALCHEMILLA. i>m?i.— Ladies' Mantle. 



(From the Arabic alkamelych, alchemy ; from its pretended alchemical virtues.) 

 Calyx tubular ; tube somewhat contracted at the top ; limb 

 8-parted, the alternate lobes smaller. Petals none. Stamens 

 1 — 4. Carpels 1 — 2, with a filiform capitate style on the side, 

 at length dry and 1 -seeded. 



A. alpina Linn. : leaves digitate ; leafets 5 — 7, lanceolate-cuneate, ob- 

 tuse, serrate at the apex, white and silky beneath. 



High mountains. N. H. and Ver, Pursh. June, July. %. — Floxoers white, 

 in corymbs. Alpine Ladies' Mantle. 



2. SANGUISORBA. Linn.— Gredit Burnet. 



(From the Latin sanguis, blood, and sorbeo, to take up or absorb ; from the 

 supposed \ailnerary properties of the plant.) 



Flowers perfect or rarely polygamous. Calyx 4-cleft, with 

 2 — 3 scales at base externally. Petals none. Stamens 4, op- 

 posite the calyx segments ; filaments often dilated upwards. 

 Achenium dry, included in the hardened 4 -winged calyx- tube. 



1. (S. Canadensis Linn. : leaves pinnate ; leafets ovate-oblong subcor- 

 date, coarsely serrate ; spikes cylindric, long ; stamens longer than the 

 corolla. (S. Canadensis a Torr. tf* Gr. 



Wet meadows. Can. to Geor. Aug., Sept. %. — Stem 2—4 feet high. 

 Flowers white, in crowded spikes, which are from 2 — 5 inches long, and termi- 

 nate the naked branches. White Great Burnet. 



2. (S. media Linn. : leaves pinnate and with the bracts smooth ; leafets 

 ovate, subcordate, toothed ; spikes ovate-cylindric ; stamens scarcely longer 

 than the corolla. S. Canadensis, /? Torr. cf« Gr. 



Wet meadows, principally on the mountains. Can. to Geor. W. to Oregon 

 and N. W. Coast. Aug., Sept. %. — The spikes shorter than in the former, and 

 tinged with red. Pursh. Short-spiked Cheat Burnet. 



Order XLII. CALYCANTHACE^.— Calycanths. 



Sepals and petals confounded, indefinite, imbricated, com- 

 bined in a fleshy tube. Stamens indefinite, inserted into a 

 fleshy rim at the mouth of the tube. Ovaries several, simple. 

 Nuts enclosed in the fleshy tube of the calyx, 1 -seeded. Albu- 

 men none. — Shrubs with square stems. Leaves opposite, sim- 

 ple. Flowers axillary, solitary. 



