KEPORT OF THE BOTANIST. 93 



low ; in B. prcecox the leaves are longer and pinnatifid, with irregu- 

 lar lobes, decreasing in size from the apex toward the base. 



In the vicinity of New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, &c. , this 

 plant is considerably cultivated as an early salad, and has escaped 

 from cultivation to such an extent as to become very troublesome in 

 cultivated fields. As found in these places it is probably introduced 

 from Europe, but in the neighborhood of the great lakes, in Canada, 

 and northward it is thought to be a native plant. (Plate XIX.) 



Chelidonium ma jus (celandine). 



A plant of the poppy family (PapaveracecB). It is herbaceous and 

 perennial, growing l| to 2 feet high, with a brittle, waters stem, 

 which when broken emits a yellowish, disagreeable-smelling juice, 

 which is bitter and acrid. The stem is somewhat branching, with 

 large pinnatifid leaves. Those from the root are on long stalks, those 

 on the stem are short-stalked or the upper ones sessile. They are usu- 

 ally y or 4 inches long and nearly as broad, divided into about five prin- 

 cipal segments, which are again subdivided into a few lobes and coarse 

 teeth. The flowers are in small clusters of 3 to 8 at the extremity of 

 the branches, each one on a short stalk or pedicel. They are less than 

 an inch in diameter when expanded, and of a bright yellow color. 

 The calyx consists of 2 greenish sepals, which fall off when the flower 

 expands. The corolla is composed of 4 oblong petals, within which 

 are an indefinite number (usually from 16 to 20) of stamens, and cen- 

 trally the ovary, which enlarges into a slender, smooth, two-valved, 

 many-seeded pod, about an inch in length. 



This plant is rather common about dwellings in the Eastern States, 

 and, although classed as a weed, it is one which interferes principally 

 with garden culture. Like many other common weeds, it is intro- 

 duced from Europe. (Plate XX.) 



Capsella bursa-pastoris (shepherd's-purse). 



One of the commonest garden and roadside weeds. It is an up- 

 right annual plant of variable size, sometimes fruiting when 2 or 3 

 inches high, and sometimes attaining a height of 18 inches or more. 

 The leaves are mostly near the lower part of the plant, the upper 

 ones becoming small, narrow, and somewhat arrow-shaped, while the 

 lower ones are sometimes 5 or 6 inches long, pinnatifid, and toothed 

 like those of the dandelion. The flowers are very small, and at first 

 somewhat crowded near the end of the branches, but in age becoming 

 much seffarated, and forming a long, leafless raceme. The flowers 

 have the same general structure as those of pepper-grass and radish, 

 and the plant belongs to the same natural order. Cruet ferce. The 

 pods are on slender pedicels, which are half to three-folirths of an 

 mch long. They are about one-fourth of an inch long, of a peculiar 

 form, flat, broad at the top, and notched at the apex, then narrowed 

 to the base, presenting somewhat the appearance of a purse, from 

 which appearance comes the common name of shepherd's-purse. The 

 pods consist of two lobes or pouches, fixed on opposite sides of a flat 

 thin partition, to which the seeds are attached. Although this weed 

 is very common and abundant, it can generally be easily destroved 

 by careful culture. (Plate XXI.) 



' GEORGE VASEY, 



__ __ Botanist. 



Hon. Norman J. Colman, 



Commissioner. 



