RAJJUNCtTLACEAE 7 



Stem 12 to 18 inches high, slender and paniculately branching. Leaves once or 

 twice ternate, glaucous beneath. Flowers nodding, red and yellow. 

 Hob. Rocky banks of streams: frequent. Fl. May. Fr. July. 



8. DELPHINIUM. L. 



[Gr. Delphin, a Dolphin ; from a fancied resemblance in the flower.] 

 Sepals 5, irregular, the upper one produced into a spur at base. 

 Petals 4. sometimes united, irregular, the upper pair spurred and 

 inclosed in the spur of the upper sepal. Pistils 1 to 5, mostly 3. 

 Follicles many-seeded. 



1. .D. Cons6lida, L. Leaves many-parted, the segments linear; 

 racemes few-flowered; petals united; follicles solitary, smooth. 

 SOLDER DELPHINIUM. Lark-spur. 



Annual. Stem about 2 feet high, and with the foliage and flowers somewhat 

 pubescent. Flowers blue, or violet-purple. 

 Hob. Gardens, and cultivated grounds. Nat. of Europe. Fl. July. Fr. August. 



Obs. This introduced plant is usually to be met with in gardens ; 

 and occasionally finds its way into the grain-fields of thoughtless 

 people who are in the practice of carrying garden-rubbish into the 

 barn-yard. In such cases, it threatens to become a nuisance. 



TRIBE 5. CIMICIFIPGEAE. 



&paU colored, caducous; petals none, or small and flat (staminodia) ; pistils 1 or 

 several ; fruit baccate, or follicular, 1- 2- or many-seeded. Leaves alternate. Peren- 

 nial tierbs, 



t Petals none: Carpels baccate, clustered in a head. 



9. HYDRAS'TIS, L. 



[Perhaps from the Gr. Hydor, water, and drao, to act; its juices being active.] 

 Sepals 3, petal-like, caducous. Pistils numerous, in a dense round- 

 ish head; stigmas dilated, 2-lipped. Carpels 1- or 2-seeded, be- 

 coming succulent and red, forming a kind of compound berry. 



1. H. Canadensis, L. Leaves cordate-orbicular, palmate- 

 lobed and doubly serrate. 

 CANADIAN HYDRASTIS. Yellow-root. 



Stem 6 to 12 inches high, simple, usually 2-leaved at summit (sometimes a radi- 

 cal leaf on a petiole nearly as long as the stem). Flower solitary, terminal, white. 

 Hob. Rich woodlands: not very common. Fl. April, May. Fr. July. 



Obs. The root is bitter and tonic, and was used by the aborigines 

 as a yellow dye. 



f f Petals small, spaMate (resembling stamens). 

 * Fruit a many-seeded Berry. 



10. ACTAE^A, L. 



[Gr. Akte, the Elder-bush ; from a resemblance in the foliage.] 

 Sepals 3 to 5, colored, caducous. Petals (or staminodia] 4 to 10, 

 small, flat, very entire, spatulate. Pistil single, becoming an oval 

 Berry. 



1. A. alba, Bigel. Raceme oblong ; petals truncate at apex ; pe- 

 dicels thickened ; berries white. 

 WHITE ACTAEA. White Cohosh. Baneberry. 



