» NAT. ORDER. — PAPAVERACEiB. 123 



unequal indentations. On each lobe one large fibre of a bright yel- 

 low color may be seen, running from the leaf-stalks, and sending off 

 many s nailer ones ; the Jlowcis are white and spreading, and have 

 two deciduous calyx leaves; the calyx is so exceedingly fugacious, 

 that it is common for them to fall off before the flower is expanded ; 

 hence they are rarely seen ; the petals, which for the most part are 

 purely white, are often tinged on their under side, and sometimes on 

 their upper, with a delicate rose-color ; the Jloiccr-bud is generally 

 faint rose-colored ; the petals vary exceedingly, both in size and in 

 number. I have in many flowers counted from seven to fourteen ; 

 the most common number is about eight ; the stamens are numerous ; 

 the anthers are simple and orange-colored ; i\\e filaments are simple, 

 shorter than the corolla, and of a yellow color; ihc pist'dh of a red- 

 dish green ; the germcns oblong and compressed ; stijle none ; stigma 

 thick, two-furrowed, with a stria the height of the stamens, and per- 

 manent; the ca/>su/e, or, as Wildenow designates it, the si li qua, is 

 oblong, swelling in the middle, acute at both ends, and two-valved ; 

 the seeds are numerous, round and pointed. 



This is a plant peculiar to North America. Its systematic 

 name, as well as its English and German appellations, are expressive 

 of the peculiar reddish, or rather orange-colored juice wliicii per- 

 vades every part of it. It is one of the most beautiful and delicate 

 vegetables of our country. It is particularly interesting from its 

 flowering at a season when there is little or no general verdure, and 

 scarcely any tiling in bloom, except trees, the inconspicuous floret;- 

 cence of which does not render them in general very attractive. It 

 is also one of the most abundant plants of our states, growing plen- 

 tifully from Canada to Florida. 



The tendency of Blood-root, or Puccoon, to multiply its petals 

 in favorable situations, renders it likely that culture would readily 

 produce a double variety ; and, indeed, the variety Sanguinaria 

 major Jlore plcno, by Dillenius, as quoted under the synonyma, 

 proves that such a ciiange has been effected in it. As these double 



