8 EANUNCULACEiE 



Actgea, a berry. Herbs or shrubs. Leaves often divided. Plants acrid and 

 poisonous, some of them — as Aconitum — eminently so. This extensive tribe 

 of plants may be found in most of the temperate countries of the globe, but 

 they are unknown in the lowlands of the tropics. They characterise a cold, 

 damp climate. 



* Carpels one-seeded. 



1. Traveller's Joy {CUmatis). — Sepals 4 — 6, resembling petals ; corolla 

 wanting ; carpels terminated by a long, mostly feathery, awn. Name from 

 the Greek Id&ina, the shoot of a vine. 



2. Meadow Rue {Thalidrum). — Sepals 4 — 5 ; corolla wanting ; carpels 

 without tails, sessile, or nearly so. Name from the Greek tludlo, to tlourish. 



3. Wind-flower {Anemone). — Sepals resembling petals, 4 — -20; in- 

 volucre of three-cut leaves, usually distant from the flower. Name from the 

 Greek anemos, the wind, because the flowers are easily moved by the wind. 



4. Pheasant's Eye {Adonis). — Calyx of 5 sepals; petals 5 — 16, without 

 a nectary ; carpels without awns. Name from Adonis, a youth who was 

 killed by a wild boar, and whose blood was fabled to have stained the flower. 



5. Crowfoot, Spearwort, etc. {PMnuncidus). — Calyx of 5 (rarely 3) 

 sepals ; petals 5 (rarely numerous), with a pore or nectary at the base ; 

 carpels without awns. Name from rana, a frog ; these plants growing much 

 where frogs abound. 



6. Mouse-tail {Myosurus). — Calyx of 5 sepals, prolonged at the base 

 into a spvir ; petals 5 ; carpels crowded into a lengthened spike. Name, 

 Greek for a mouse's tail. 



* * Carpels many-seeded. 



7. Globe-flower {Trdllius). — Sepals 5 — 15, coloured; petals 5, or 

 many, small, narrow, flat. Name said to be derived fiom trol or trolen, a ball, 

 or globe, in old German. 



8. Marsh Marigold {Cdltha). — Sepals 5 or more. Petals absent. Name 

 from the Greek kdlathos, a cup. 



9. Hellebore {HelUhcrrusy — Sepals 5, like petals, persistent, that is, not 

 falling off"; petals 8 — 10, small, tubular; carpels 3 — 10. Name from the 

 Greek lielein, to take away, and hor, food. 



10. Winter Aconite {Eranihis). — Sepals 5—8, petaloid, soon falling; 

 petals small, 2-lipped ; stamens numerous ; carpels 5 — 6, stalked. Name 

 from the Greek ear, spring, and anfhos, flower. 



11. Columbine {AquiUgia). — Sepals 5, petal-like, soon falling off; petals 

 5, tubular, gaping upwards, and terminating in a horn-shaped spur or 

 nectary ; carpels 5. Name from the Latin (updla, an eagle, the claws of 

 which its nectaries are fancied to resemble. 



12. Larkspur {Delphinium). — Sepals 5, petal-like, soon falling oft', the 

 upper one helmet-shaped, with a long spur at the base ; petals 4, the two 

 upper on long stalks, and concealed in the spurred sepal; carpels 3 — 5. 

 Name from delphin, a dolphin, to which animal the flower bears a fancied 

 resemblance. 



13. Monk's-hood {Aconitum). — Sepals 5, petal-like, the upper one helmet- 

 shaped but not spurred ; nectaries 2, stalked, tiibular at the extremity, 



