412 BERBERIDACEAE (BARBERRY FAMILY) 



stigma sessile, large, thick and undulate. Fruit a large fleshy berry. Seeds 

 covering the very large lateral placenta, in many rows, each seed inclosed in 

 a pulpy aril. Perennial herbs, with creeping rootstocks and thick fibrous roots. 

 Stems 2-leaved, 1-flowered. (Name from iroi/s, a foot, and <f>A\\ov, a leaf, 

 probably referring to the stout petioles. ) 



1. P. peltatum L. Stamens 12-18 ; leaves 5-9-parted, the lobes oblong, 

 rather wedge-shaped, somewhat lobed and toothed at the apex. Rich woods, 

 w. Que. and w. N. E. to Minn., and southw. May. Flowerless stems termi- 

 nated by a large round 7-9-lobed leaf, peltate in the middle, like an umbrella ; 

 flowering stems bearing two one-sided leaves, and a nodding white flower from 

 the fork ; fruit ovoid, 2.5-5 cm. long, ripe in July, sweet and slightly acid, 

 edible. 



2. JEFFERS6NIA B. S. Barton. TWINLEAF 



Sepals 4, fugacious. Petals 8, oblong, flat. Stamens 8 ; anthers oblong- 

 linear, on slender filaments. Ovary ovoid, soon gibbous, pointed ; stigma 2- 

 lobed. Pod pear-shaped, opening halfway round horizontally, the upper part 

 making a lid. Seeds many, in several rows on the lateral placenta, with a fleshy 

 lacerate aril on one side. A perennial glabrous herb, with matted fibrous roots, 

 long-petioled root-leaves parted into 2 half-ovate leaflets, and simple naked 1- 

 flowered scapes. (Named in honor of Thomas Jefferson.) 



1. J. diphylla (L.) Pers. Low; flower white, 2.5 cm. broad, the parts 

 rarely in threes or fives. (J. Mtiata B. S. Barton.) Woods, n. N. Y. to Wise., 

 n. e. la., and southw. Apr., May. Called RHEUMATISM ROOT in some places. 



3. DIPHYLLEIA Michx. UMBRELLA LEAF 



Sepals 6, fugacious. Petals 6, oval, flat. Stamens 6. Ovary ellipsoid ; stigma 

 depressed, subsessile. Ovules 5 or 6, attached to one side of the cell below the 

 middle. Berry globose, few-seeded. Seeds oblong, with no aril. Glabrous 

 perennial, with thick horizontal rootstocks, sending up each year either a huge 

 centrally peltate and cut-lobed rounded umbrella-like radical leaf, on a stout 

 stalk, or a flowering stem bearing two similar (but smaller and more 2-cleft) 

 alternate leaves which are peltate near one margin, and terminated by a cyme 

 of white flowers. (Name from Sis, double, and <t>t\\ov, Zed/.) 



1. D. cymbsa Michx. Root-leaves 3-6 dm. in diameter, 2-cleft, each division 

 5-7-lobed ; lobes toothed ; berries blue. Wet or springy places, mts. of Va. 

 and southw. May. 



4. CAULOPHYLLUM Michx. BLUE COHOSH 



Sepals 6, with 3 or 4 small bractlets at the base, ovate-oblong. Petals 6 thick 

 gland-like somewhat kidney-shaped or hooded bodies, with short claws, much 

 smaller than the sepals, one at the base of each of them. Stamens 6. Pistil 

 gibbous ; style short ; stigma minute and unilateral : ovary bursting soon after 

 flowering by the pressure of the 2 erect enlarging seeds, and withering away ; 

 the spherical seeds naked on their thick seed-stalks, looking like drupes, the 

 fleshy integument turning blue; albumen horny. A perennial glabrous herb, 

 with matted knotty rootstocks, sending up in early spring a simple and naked 

 stem, terminated by a small raceme or panicle of yellowish green flowers, and a 

 little below bearing a large triternately compound sessile leaf (whence the name, 

 from Kav\6s, stem, and ^i/XXov, leaf, the stem seeming to form a stalk for the 

 great leaf.) 



1. C. thalictroides (L.) Michx. (PAPPOOSE ROOT.) Stems 3-7.5 dm. high ; 

 leaflets obovate-wedge-form, 2-3-lobed, a smaller biternate leaf often at the base 

 of the panicle ; flowers appearing while the leaf is yet small. Deep rich woods, 

 N. B. to Man., and southw. Apr., May. Whole plant glaucous when young, 

 as also the seeds, which are as large as peas. 



