14 BRITISH BOTANY. 



Root vertical, truncate. Stems persistent, 12-18 inches ov 

 more, stout, naked below, leafy above, branched and many- 

 liowered. Leaves pedatc (divided to the base), leathery, with 

 lanceolate, toothed segments ; bracts (upper leaves) ovate, entire, 

 sessile. Flowers pendulous, in a branched corymb. Sepals con- 

 cave, erect, green, often with a purplish border. Follicles ob- 

 long, terminating in an elongated beak. The whole herbage has 

 a fetid, poisonous smell. 



On calcareous or cretaceous soils, rare. Per. ; Feb.-May. 



H. viridis, Lin. Green Hellebore. — e.b.200. l.b.s. 29. 

 A. 7. C. 20. Lat. 50-55°. Alt. 0-200 yds. Tern. 51-47°. 



Root rhizomatous, oblique, black. Stems annual, 8-12 inches, 

 erect, slightly branched above, few-flowered, leafy oidy below the 

 branches. Radical leaves pedate or palmate, on very long peti- 

 oles, with oblong lanceolate, toothed segments; the floral leaves 

 sessile, ivith partially united segments. Flowers 2-5, slightly pen- 

 dulous, spreading, green. Follicles as in the former. 



Shady places. Per. ; March-April. Plentiful in a copse not 

 far from the Fox, Ranmer Common, near Dorking, April, 1840, 

 Mr. Irvine. 



Eranthis, Salisb. — Perennial roots. Leaves all radical, on 

 long petioles. Flowers solitary, terminal, in the centre of a leaf- 

 like persistent involucre. Sepals 5-8, petaloid, caducous. Pe- 

 tals 5-8, much shorter than the sepals, tubular and obliquely 

 truncate. Follicles 5-8, free, stipitate, slightly divergent, sub- 

 tended by the persistent receptacle. 



E, hyemalis, Salisb. Winter Aconite. — l.b.s. 28. 



Root roundish, thick, fleshy. Stem 2—1 inches, erect. Leaves 

 with oblong linear lobes. Sepals spreading, oblong or oblong- 

 ovate. Follicles oblong, with a beak. Seeds angular, finely 

 shagreened. 



Naturalized in thickets in the south of England, Mr. Babhig- 

 ton. In a copse at Hemswell, Spittal, Lincolnshire, 1830, Mr. 

 Irvine. Per. ; February-March. 



Aquilegia, Lin. — Leaves mostly radical, twice ternate. Flowers 

 pendulous. Sepals 5, ovate, petaloid, caducous. Petals 5, pro- 

 longed below their insertion, involute and terminating in spurs, 

 which are more or less curved over the sepals. Follicles 5, free 

 or slightly cohering at the base and connivent. 



