54 RANUNCULACEAE. [Vor. IT. 
1. Coptis trifdlia (L.) Salisb. Gold-thread. (Fig. 1551.) 
te te Helleborus trifolius L. Sp. Pl. Ed. 2, 784. 1762. 
\V io Coptis trifolia Salisb. Trans. Linn. Soc. 8: 305. 
Trofgrem trifolium Britton, Bull. Torr. Club, 18: 
265. 1891. 
Tufted, glabrous, 3/-6’ high from a slender 
or filiform yellow bitter rootstock. Leaves all 
basal, long-petioled, the blade reniform, 1/—2/ 
broad,3-divided; petioles very slender; segments 
broadly obovate, cuneate, obtuse, prominently 
veined, crenate or slightly lobed, dark green 
and shining above, paler beneath, the teeth mu- 
cronate; scape I-flowered,slender; sepals oblong, 
obtuse; petals small, club-shaped; follicles 3-7, 
about 3/’ long, borne on stipes of about their 
own length, spreading, tipped with a beak 1//— 
14’ long. : 
In damp mossy woods, and bogs, Newfoundland 
to Maryland, west to Minnesota, British Columbia 
and Alaska. Leaves evergreen. Ascends to 3500 
ft. in the Adirondacks. Called also Canker-root. 
May-Aug. : 
VE ISOPYRUM L. Sp, Bll ss7- 1753: 
Slender glabrous herbs, with ternately decompound leaves, and solitary or panicled 
white flowers. Sepals 5-9, petaloid, deciduous. Petals 5, nectariform or none. Stamens 
numerous. Carpels 2-20, sessile (stalked in a western species), several-ovuled, forming a 
head of follicles in fruit. [Old Greek name for some Fumaria.] 
A genus of about 15 species, natives of the north temperate zone. Besides the following, there 
are 3 other North American species, natives of the Pacific Coast. 
1. Isopyrum biternatum (Raf.)T. &G. 
False Rue Anemone. (Fig. 1552.) 
Enemion bilernatum Raf. Journ, Phys. 91: 70. 
1820, 
Isopyrum biternatum 'T. & G. Fl. N. A. 1: 660. 
1540. 
Slender, erect, paniculately branching above; 
roots fibrous and sometimes tuberiferous. Basal 
leaves long-petioled, biternate, thin, the ulti- 
mate segments broadly obovate, obtuse, lobed or 
divided; upper ones similar but sessile or short- 
petioled; flowers several, terminal and axillary, 
white, 5’’-9’ broad; sepals 5, oblong or some- 
what obovate, obtuse; petals none; stamens 
many; filaments slender, thickened above; car- 
pels few; follicles widely spreading, ovate, 2// 
long, several-seeded, tipped with a beak nearly 
one-half their length. 
In moist woods and thickets, Ontario to Minne- 
sota, south to Florida and Texas. May. 
i fj \\ \ “<= 
ae KA a ee 
8. XANTHORRHIZA L/Her. Stirp. Nov. 79. 1784. 
Low shrubby plants, with pinnate or bipinnate leaves, and small compoundly racemose 
flowers. Sepals 5, petaloid, deciduous. Petals 5, smaller than the sepals, unguiculate, con- 
cave, 2-lobed. Stamens 5 orto. Carpels 5-10, sessile, 2-ovuled, forming 1-seeded follicles 
at maturity by the suppression of one of the ovules. [Greek, yellow root. ] 
A monotypic genus of eastern North Amcrica. 
