860 AMMIACEAE 



compound few-rayed umbels. Bracts of the involucres resembling the leaves. Sepals 5. 

 persistent. Petals white, yellowish or purple, broadest above the middle, emarginate. 

 Disk flat. Fruit subglobose or oblong, somewhat dorsally flattened, armed with hooked 

 bristles : carpels without ribs : oil-tubes usually 5. SNAKE-BOOT. BLACK SNAKE-ROOT. 



Perennial : stamens and style exserted. 



Roots slender: leaf-blades 5-divided or 5-foliolate : stamens and styles slenderly exserted. 

 Petals and anthers greenish white : sepals linear-subulate : fruit about 6 mm. long. 



1. S. Marylandica. 



Petals and anthers yellow : sepals ovate : fruit about 3 mm. long. 2. S. gregaria. 



Roots tuberous thickened : leaf-blades 3-divided or 3-foliolate : stamens and style 



short-exserted. 3. S. Smattii. 



Biennial : stamens and style included. 



Pedicels of the staminate flowers 3-4 times the length of the hypanthium and 



calyx : seeds with 2 large oil tubes. 4. S. trifoliata. 



Pedicels of the staminate flowers 1-2 times the length of the hypanthium and 



calyx : seeds with 5 large oil-tubes. 

 Leaf- bad es becoming 8-15 cm. broad : leaflets or leaf-segments thin, the teeth 



weakly aculeate. 5. S. Canadensis. 



Leaf-blades mostly less than 6 cm. broad : leaflets or leaf-segments thickish, 



the teeth spinulose-cuspidate. 6. S. Flondana. 



1. Sanicula Marylandica L. Kather stout, 4.5-13 dm. tall. Stems usually simple 

 below the 3-branched umbel, the branches bearing simple or compound secondary umbels : 

 basal leaves with long petioles : stem-leaves 2-3, the upper sessile, all firm, bluish green, 

 paler beneath than above ; segments 4-15 cm. long, the lower pair obovate to oblanceolate, 

 parted or divided, mucronate-serrate or dentate, often incised above : involucre of small 

 3-cleft bracts : involucel of scale-like bractlets : ultimate rays 3 : staminate flowers numer- 

 ous, their pedicels 3-6 mm. long : calyx and hypanthium 1.5-2 mm. long : petals oblanceo- 

 late, slightly longer than the sepals : fruits 2-6 together or solitary, obovoid, sessile, with 

 recurved spreading styles and strong bristles : pericarp corky-thickened, with five large 



oil-tubes : seeds dorsally 3-grooved. 



In rich woods, Newfoundland to the Rocky Mountain region, south to Georgia and Colorado. 

 Spring and summer. 



2. Sanicula gregaria Bicknell. Slender, 3-9 dm. tall. Stems weak, often clustered, 

 the slender ascending branches umbellately compound : leaves mainly basal ; blades thin, 

 bright green, the segments mostly less than 8 cm. long, obovate-cuneate to lanceolate, 

 doubly serrate with bristle-tipped teeth and sharply incised, the lower pair usually cleft : 

 stem-leaves 1-2, or wanting, petioled : involucre of large 3-parted bracts : involucels of 

 foliaceous bractlets ; rays 2-3, slender, 12-30 cm. long : staminate flowers numerous, their 

 pedicels 2-3 mm. long, 3-4 times the length of the minute campanulate hypanthium and 

 calyx : petals obovate, much surpassing the sepals : fruits 3-5 together, stipitate, broadly 

 obovoid, with widely recurved styles and minute weak bristles, the pericarp thin, with 5 

 small oil-tubes : seeds not grooved. 



In moist woods and thickets, Vermont to Wisconsin and Nebraska, south to North Carolina and 

 Kansas. Spring and summer. 



3. Sanicula Smallii Bicknell. Stems 2.5-6 dm. tall, widely 2-forked above. Basal 

 leaves slender-petioled, the divisions obovate or broadly rhombic, 4-8 cm. long, mostly ob- 

 tuse, dentate-serrate with aculeate teeth or sparingly incised above, somewhat leathery, 

 deep and dull green above, paler beneath, the lateral segments cleft or parted ; stem -leaves 

 3-4 : involucre of nearly sessile 3-cleft bracts : involucels of very small bractlets : rays 

 2-6, rigid, spreading, 2-3.5 cm. long: staminate flowers numerous, their pedicels 2-4 

 mm. long: sepals linear-cuspidate, 1.5-2 mm. long: petals obovate, not surpassing the 

 sepals, yellowish or greenish : fruits 3-6 together, ovoid, 4-6 mm. long, sessile, with 

 numerous slender bristles, the pericarp somewhat thickened, with 5 oil-tubes : seeds not 

 grooved. 



In rich or rocky woods, North Carolina to Missouri, south to Florida and Mississippi. Summer. 



4. Sanicula trifoliata Bicknell. Stems slender, 3-8 dm. tall, often with simple or 

 widely forking branches. Leaf -blades ample, thin, bright green, the divisions ovate or rhom- 

 bic, manifestly acute, the lateral pair 6-9 dm. long, coarsely and doubly serrate, sometimes 

 cleft, the teeth somewhat spinulose-tipped : involucre of foliaceous bracts : rays stiff, 10-20 

 mm. long : staminate flowers few, their pedicels about 4 mm. long : calyx and hypanthium 

 about 1 mm. long : sepals linear-aculeate : petals minute, white : fruits 3-5 together, ellip- 

 soid or broader, becoming 7 mm. long, sessile, the pericarp thickened, with slender bristles : 

 seeds not grooved, with a large oil-tube on one or both sides and several small ones. 



In rich woods, Vermont and Ontario to Indiana, Pennsylvania and Tennessee summer. 



5. Sanicula Canadensis L. Stems solitary, 3-13 dm. tall, leafy, the branches alter- 

 nate, dichotomously compound. Leaf-blades-dull green, those of the upper stem-leaves short- 

 petioled, 3-divided, the lateral divisions parted or divided again, sometimes becoming 9 



