262 RANUNCULACEAE 
5 to 10. Carpels, originally follicles with more than one seed. As the 
follicle matures one seed is suppressed. 
X. apiifolia, L’Her. Smurus YeELLow Roor. Leaves clustered at the 
top of the stem. Stems in clusters 1 to 2 ft. high. Southern section of 
our region. April-May. 
Herbs 
Flowers yellow. Leaves undivided 
13. CALTHA,; L. 
Herbs with large kidney-shaped or fan-shaped leaves with somewhat 
sinuate borders or with prominent teeth. Most of the leaves on foot- 
stalks from the root. Leaves of flower stems similar to the basal ones, 
the upper ones clasping the stem. Follicles numerous or few. 
1. C. palustris, L. (Fig. 2, pl. 44.) Marsn Maricortp. Stem stout, 
hollow, more or less furrowed. Flowers without petals but with yellow 
sepals resembling petals. Leaves rounded, heart-shaped at base, margins 
with quite low teeth. Plant found in swampy meadows. Early May. 
Var. C. flabellifolia, Pursh. Mountain Marsu MaAricoup. Plant less 
stout; leaves fan-shaped with broad sinuses at base. Teeth at margin 
conspicuous. Pocono plateau, Pa., and northern New Jersey. June-July. 
14. TROLLIUS, L. 
Plant closely resembling Ranunculus, but usually stouter, 1 to 2 ft. 
high. Leaves divided by several sinuses extending to the stem or only 
part way to it. Flowers yellow, usually solitary with 5 sepals resembling 
petals. Carpels 5 or numerous. Stamens numerous. 
T. laxus, Salisb. AMERICAN GLop'-FLower. Slender, 1 to 2 ft. high. 
Upper leaf without a foot-stalk. Sepals yellowish or purplish, 5 to 6; 
petals minute. Follicles forming a head nearly or quite an ineh in 
diameter, each follicle is tipped with a straight bristle 4 the length of 
the follicle. Swamps. New Hampshire and New York. May-July. 
15. COPTIS, Salisb. 
Five or six sepals. Petals none or very small. Stamens 15 to 25. Seeds 
in follicles, of which there are from 3 to 10 in a stellate group. Small 
herbs with long creeping roots from which spring clusters of root leaves 
(2 to 4) each 3 parted, in the midst of which arises the delicate naked 
flower stem bearing a single flower. 
C. trifolia, (L.) Salisb. (Fig. 3, pl. 44.) Gotprureap. Three nearly 
equally divided kite-shaped leaflets, each slightly lobed at the summit 
and notched along the outer 2/3 or 3/4 of the border. Sepals white. A 
pretty star-shaped flower of early spring with shining leaves and golden 
colored thread-like running roots. In woods throughout our area. May. 
16. AQUILEGIA, L. 
Petals and sepals colored alike. Flower usually nodding so that the 
long tubular spurs of the petals point upward. The 5 ovate sepals form 
a 5-pointed star, between the division of which the petals ascend. Petals 
5, of horn-of-plenty form, each attached to the receptacle by the short 
