RANUNCULACE^E. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 3 



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1. ATRAGENE, L. 



Sepals 4, colored, membranaceous, spreading, valvate in the bud, deciduous. 

 Petals numerous, stamen-like. Stamens indefinite. Ovaries numerous, 1-ovuled. 

 Achcnia capitate, bearing the persistent styles in the form of long plumose-beard- 

 ed tails. Seed suspended. Shrubby vines, climbing by the petioles. Leaves 

 opposite, compound, from scaly buds. Flowers solitary, showy. 



1. A. Americana, Sims. Leaves in opposite pairs, ternate; leaflets 

 stalked, ovate, acute, entire or toothed, sometimes slightly cordate ; peduncles 

 opposite ; sepals oblong-ovate. Mountains of North Carolina and northward. 

 April - May. Flowers 2' - 3' in diameter, purple. 



2. CLEMATIS, L. VIRGIN'S-BOWER. 



Petals none. Persistent styles naked or plumose. Otherwise as Atragene. 

 Herbs or shrubby vines. Leaves simple or compound, opposite. Buds not 

 scaly. Flowers solitary or panicled, often polygamous or dioecious. 



* Flowers solitary, nodding : calyx thick or leathery. 

 i Stems erect, mostly simple, herlxiceous. 



1. C. OChroleuca, Ait. Silky-pubescent; leaves ovate or roundish, en- 

 tire, reticulate, nearly sessile, at length smooth above ; tails of the achenia (l' 

 long) plumose. Upper districts of Georgia and northward. May -June. 

 Stems 1 high. Flowers yellowish, 1' long. 



2. C. Baldwin!!, Torr. & Gray. Stems mostly simple, slender, slightly 

 pubescent ; leaves oblong, varying to linear-lanceolate, entire, or with three often 

 divided lobes ; peduncles elongated ; tails of the achenia (2' -3' long) very slen- 

 der, plumose. South Florida. Stems 1 - 1 high. Peduncles 8' - 10' long. 

 Flowers purple, yellowish within, the sepals woolly on the margins. 



-- -i- Stems climbing, herbaceous. 



3. C. ovata, Pursh. Smooth ; stems erect or climbing ; leaves broadly 

 ovate, short-pctioled, reticulate, glaucous beneath, the lowest sometimes com- 

 pound or cordate ; sepals ovate, acuminate, pubescent on the margins ; tails of 

 the achenia very long, plumose. Mountains of Georgia, Carolina, and Ten- 

 nessee. Flowers purple ?, inclined. Probably a form of the next. ( * ) 



4. C. Viorna, L. Smoothish ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 5-7, oval, or ob- 

 long-ovate, mostly acute, somewhat membranaceous, entire or 2-3-lobed, the 

 lowest pair often ternate ; calyx ovate ; sepals ovate, tapering into a short re- 

 curved point, not margined, rather longer than the stamens ; tails of the achenia 

 ( 1 ' long) plumose. River-banks. May - August. Flowers nodding. Sepals 

 thick, reddish purple, 1 ' long. 



5. C. crispa, L. Stem sparingly pubescent ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 

 5-7 ovate, thin, 3-lobed or ternate ; those of the upper leaves entire, of the low- 

 est lanceolate or linear ; calyx campanulate ; sepals lanceolate, acuminate, twice 

 as long as the stamens, the margins broad and wavy ; tails of the achenia (!' 

 long) rigid; silky-pubescent. (C. Walter!, Pursh. C. cylindrica, Sims. C. line- 



