4 RANUNCULACE^E. 



1. CLEMATIS. Linn. Virgin's Bower. 



(From the Greek /cX?//a, a shoot or tendril ; in allusion to the climbing habit 

 of the genus.) 



Involucre none, or like a calyx under the flower. Sepals 

 4 8, colored. Petals none, or shorter than the sepals. Car- 

 pels many, terminated by a long mostly feathery awn. 



1. CLEMATIS proper. Involucre none. Sepals 4 8, colored. Petals 

 none. 



1. C. Virginiana Linn. : stem climbing ; leaves ternate;, leafets cordate- 

 ovate, acute, coarsely toothed or lobed ; flowers paniculate, dioecious. 



Woods and thickets. Can. to Flor. N. to lat. 55 W- to Columbia river. 

 Aug. T?. Stem long. Flowers white, in large panicles. Tails of the carpels 

 at length clothed with long silken hairs, having the appearance of tufts of 

 wool. Virgin's Bower. 



2. C. Vioi'na Linn. : stem climbing ; leaves pinnately divided ; seg- 

 ments entire, or 3-lobed, ovate, acute ; floral ones entire ; peduncles 1-flow- 

 ered ; sepals thick, acuminate, connivent, reflexed at the apex. 



Woods. Penn. to Geor. W. to Miss. June, July. 1\. Flowers large, nod- 

 ding, violet, on peduncles 3 6 inches long. Tails of the carpels from 1 to 

 near two inches long, plumose. Leather Flower. 



3. C. ochroleuca Ait. : herbaceous, erect, simple, pubescent ; leaves sim- 

 ple, ovate, very entire, the younger ones with the calyx silky ; flower pe- 

 duncled, terminal, solitary, nodding. C. sericea Mich. 



Woods. N. Y. to Geor. May, June 1\- Stem 1218 inches high. Flowers 

 yellowish-white. Carpels conspicuously feathered, the silk of a yellowish 

 color. Silky Virgin's Bower. 



$ 2. ATRAGENE. Involucre none. Sepals 4. Petals several, minute. 



4. C. verticillaris D. C. : leaves whorled in fours, ternate ; leafets 

 petioled, ovate, acuminate, somewhat cordate, nearly entire ; peduncles 

 1 -flowered ; petals acute. Atragene Americana Sims. 



Rocks. Ver. to Car. N. to Lat. 54. W. to the Rocky Mountains. April, 

 May. }~i. Stem climbing. Flowers very large, purple. 



Whorl-leaved Virgin's Bower. 



2. THALICTRUM. Linn. Meadow Rue. 



(Supposed to be from the Greek OaXXw, tobe green ; in allusion to its verdant 

 aspect.) 



Involucre under the flower none. Sepals 4, rarely 5, peta- 

 loid, generally caducous. Petals none. Carpels dry, not awned, 

 sometimes stipitate, sometimes with a longitudinal furrow. 

 Often dioecious or polygamous. 

 % 



* Stamens longer than the sepals. 



1 . T. Cornuti Linn. : leaves decompound ; leafets roundish-obovate or 

 oblong, 3-lobed, glaucous beneath, with the nerves scarcely prominent ; pe- 

 duncles longer than the leaves ; flowers dicecious or polygamous ; carpels 



