CHAP. I. iJANUNCULA'CEiE. FIEO'iflA. 249 



to have been introduced into England in 1797 : it is found in some gardens 

 and nurseries. The price, in London, is 1*. 6(/. a plant ; at Bollwyller, ? ; 

 and at New York, 1 dollar. 



1 5. A. occiDENTA^Lis Hor?i. The Western Atragene. 



Identification. Sprengel's Syst. ; Swt. Hort. Brit. ; Don's Mill. 



Synonyme. Clematis occidentalis Dec. Prod., 1. p. 10. 



Spec Char. Leaves opposite, ternate; leaflets nearly entire, shining; sepals ovate-lanceolate; 

 flowers somewhat bell-shaped. {Don's Mill., i. p. 10.) Native country, and colour of the flower, un- 

 known. 1818. 

 Dcscripiioti, SfC. We have never seen this species, nor is any thing stated in books respecting it, 



further than what we have given above. 



Sect. II. PmosijcEuE Dec. 



This section, or tribe, is the only one contained in De CandoUe's second of 

 his two divisions of i?anunculacefE, namely, in i?anunculace£E spurite, and is 

 identical with that division. It is at once distinguishable from the other divi- 

 sion, named i?anunculaceae verge, by the character of the anthers opening to 

 admit the escape of the pollen on the side next the ovaries. In the other, 

 the anthers open on the side outward to the ovaries. De Candolle has ques- 

 tioned (Prod.) whether the ^anunculaceae spuriae, or Pseonidce(Z,may not be 

 a proper order. They differ from 6'lematideae in the character named, and, 

 besides, in having the aestivation imbricate, and the carpels from one-seeded to 

 many-seeded. The ligneous species are included in two genera, Fxonia and 

 Xanthorhiza, and of the characteristics of these the following are contrastmg 

 ones : — 

 "jEO^slA L. Sepals 3, persistent. Petals 5 or more, orbicular, without claws. 



Stamens numerous. Ovaries 2 — 5, girded by a fleshy disk. Carpels each 



containing several seeds. 

 X.iNTHORHiZA L. Scpals 5, deciduous. Petals 5, truncately 2-lobed, 



narrowed into a pedicel. Stamens 5 — 10. Ovaries 3 — 10, not girded by a 



fleshy disk. Carpels each containing 1 — 3 seeds. 



Genus I. 



PMO^'NIA L. The Peony. Lin. St/st. Polyandria Di-Pentagynia. 



Identification. The term Piebnia was applied by the Greeks to these plants, which have continued 

 to bear that name ever since. 



Syiwnymcs. Peony, Piony ; Pivoine, Fr. ; Gichtterrose, and Paonie, Ger. ; Rosa del Monte, Span.; 

 Peonia, Hal. 



Derivations. The term Piebnia is said to have been given by Hippocrates and Dioscondes, ui com- 

 memoration of P<Eon, the physician who first used it in raeiiicine. Mr. D. Don has stated {Sw. Br. 

 Fl.-Gard., 2d series, 238.) that it is much more probable that it is derived from Paeonia, a moun- 

 tainous countr>- of Macedonia, where some of the species grow wild. Most of the other European 

 names are mere adaptations of the classical one, except gichtterrose, Ger., which signifies the 

 gouty rose, from the knobby, or gouty, appearance of the roots of the herbaceous species. 



Gen. Char. Ccdyx of 3 leafy, unequal, permanent sepals. Petcds from 3 to 10, 

 somewhat orbicular. Stamens numerous. Bisk fleshy, girding the ovaries. 

 Carpels folhcular, from 2 to 3, large, many-seeded, terminated with thick 

 bilamellate stigmas. Seeds rather globose, shining. Leaves biternate or 

 bipinnate. Flowers large, rosy, or rosy and white, usually with a strong 

 disagreeable smell. (Don's Mill., i. 65., with adaptation.) Height from 3 ft. 

 to 10 ft. 

 Description. There is but one ligneous species, P. Moutan ; but there are 



several varieties of this : all are undershrubs, which never attain a great height, 



and the wood of which always retains a herbaceous character, with a large 



pith. The roots are ramose rather than tuberous. 



Geography, History, ^-c. The ligneous species is found in China and Japan ; 



