84 FOUNDATIONS OF BOTANY 
XIV. THALICTRUM, L. 
Erect perennial herbs. Leaves compound, with stipules. 
Flowers in panicles or racemes, often somewhat moncecious 
or dicecious, wind-fertilized. Sepals 4-5, petal-lke. Petals 
none. Stamens many. Carpels few or many; ovulel. Fruit 
a small head of akenes. [The following species are both 
usually dicecious. | 
1. T. dioicum, L. Earty Meapow Rue. Plant 1-2 ft. high, 
smooth and pale or with a bloom. Leaves all petioled, most of them 
thrice compound in threes ; leaflets thin and delicate, roundish, 3-7- 
lobed. Flowers in slender panicles, purplish or greenish ; staminate 
ones with slender, thread-like filaments, from which hang the con- 
spicuous yellowish anthers. Rocky woods and hillsides. 
2. T. polygamum, Muhl. Tart Mreapow Rue. Stems from 
fibrous roots, tall and coarse, nearly or quite smooth, 4-8 ft. tall. 
Leaves twice compound, those of the stem sessile, the others long- 
petioled ; leaflets oval or oblong, often cordate, smooth or downy 
beneath, quite variable in size on the same plant. Flowers small, 
in large panicles. Sepals 4 or 5, white. Filaments club-shaped. 
Akenes short-stalked. Thickets and meadows E. 
33. BERBERIDACEZ. BarBeRRY FAMILY. 
Herbs or shrubs. Leaves alternate, simple or compound, 
usually without stipules. Sepals petal-like. Petals hypogy- 
nous, distinct, their number some multiple of 2, 3, or 4, never 
of 5. Stamens one opposite each petal, anthers opening by 
2 uplifted lids. Pistil 1, 1-celled, ovules 2 or more. Fruit 
a berry or capsule. 
I. BERBERIS, L. 
Spiny shrubs with yellow wood. Leaves spinous-toothed, 
jointed on the very short petiole, often reduced to 3-7-cleft 
spines. Flowers in racemes, solitary, or in pairs. Sepals 
8-9, the outer minute. Petals 6, each with 2 nectar glands 
at the base. Stamens 6. Ovules few. Berry 1—-2-seeded ; 
seeds bony-coated. 
1. B. vulgaris, L. Common Barperry. A shrub 4-6 ft. high. 
Leaves obovate, spinous-serrate ; those on the old shoots mere 
