RANUNCULACEjE. (crowfoot familt.) 11 



10. ISOPYRUM, L. (Enemion, Raf.) 



Sepals 5, petal-like, deciduous. Petals 5, minute, wanting in the American 

 species. Stamens 10-40. Pistils 3-6 or more, pointed with the styles. Pods 

 ovate or oblong, 2 - several-seeded. — Slender smooth herbs, with 2-3-ternately 

 compound leaves ; the leaflets 2-3-lobed. Flowers axillary and terminal, 

 white. (Name from i'tros, equal, and nvpos, wheat; of no obvious application.) 



1. I. bitei'iiatmn, Torr. & Gray. Petals none; pistils 3-6 (com- 

 monly 4), divaricate in fruit, 2-3-seeded; seeds even. y. — Moist shady pla- 

 ces, Ohio, Kentucky, and westward. May. — Fibres of the root thickened here 

 and there into little tubers. Aspect and size of the plant much like Thalictrum 

 anemonoides. 



11. CALTHA, L. Marsh Marigold. 



Sepals 6-9, petal-like. Petals none. Pistils 5-10, with scarcely any styles. 

 Pods (follicles) compressed, spreading, many-seeded. Glabrous perennials, with 

 round and heart-shaped, or kidney-form, large, undivided leaves. (Name from 

 KaXaBos, a goblet, in allusion to the golden flower-cup or calyx.) 



I. C. palustris, L. (Marsh Marigold.) Stem hollow, furrowed; 

 leaves round or kidney-shaped, either eremite or nearly entire ; sepals about 6, 

 broadly oval (bright yellow). — Swamps and wet meadows, common north- 

 ward. April, May. — This well-known plant is used as a pot-herb in spring, 

 when coming into flower, under the name of Cowslips ; but the Cowslip is a 

 totally different plant, namely, a species of Primrose. The Caltha should bear 

 with us, as in England, the popular name of Marsh Marigold. (Eu.) 



12. TBOLLIUS, L. Globe-flower. 



Sepals 5-15, petal-like. Petals numerous, small, 1 -lipped, the concavity 

 near the base. Stamens and pistils numerous. Pods 9 or more, sessile, many- 

 seeded. — Smooth perennials with palmately parted and cut leaves, like Ranun- 

 culus, and large solitary terminal flowers. (Name thought to be derived from 

 the old German word troll, a globe, or something round.) 



1. T. laxus, Salisb. (Spreading Globe-flower.) Sepals 5-6, 

 spreading; petals 15-25, inconspicuous, much shorter than the stamens. — 

 Deep swamps, New Hampshire to Delaware and Michigan. May. — Flowers 

 twice the size of the common Buttercup ; the sepals spreading, so that the name 

 is not appropriate, as it is to the European Globe-flower of the gardens, nor is the 

 blossom showy, being pale greenish-yellow. 



13. COPTIS, Salisb. Goldthread. 



Sepals 5-7, petal-like, deciduous. Petals 5-7, small, club-shaped, hollow at 

 ft^e apex. Stamens 15-25. Pistils 3-7, on slender stalks. Pods divergent, 

 membranaceous, pointed with the style, 4-8-seeded. — Low smooth perennials, 

 with ternately divided root-leaves, and small white Sowers on scapes. (Name 

 from K&rrroo, to cut, alluding to the divided leaves.) 



