110 RANUNCULACEAE. 



Aconitum columbianum Nutt. Aconite. Stems erect, 50-100 cm. tall, 

 somewhat pubescent or viscid above; leaves glabrous or the upper puberulent, 

 palmately 5-lobed; lobes cuneate-obovate, incisely serrate or cleft; petioles 

 mostly shorter than the blades; flowers blue, in loose racemes or panicles; 

 hood 2-3 cm. long, the helmet-shaped upper part higher than broad, strongly 

 beaked; follicles oblong-linear, 1-1.5 cm. long, the slender beak usually re- 

 curved. Along streams especially in the mountains. 



Aconitum columbianum pallidum Piper n. subsp. Herbage pale; flowers 

 white or cream-colored. Common along the Touchet River in the Blue 

 Mountains, Columbia County, Piper no. 2416. 



148. fAQUILEGIA. COLUMBINE. 



Erect perennials with 2-3-ternately compound leaves; flowers 

 regular, showy, on the ends of the branches; sepals 5, regular, 

 petal-like; petals 5, all alike, each with a short lip and produced 

 backward into a large hollow spur much longer than the calyx; 

 pistils 5, with slender styles; pods erect, many-seeded. 



Aquilegia formosa Fisch. Usually sparingly pubescent; stems erect, 

 60j-90 cm. high; leaflets broadly cuneate, paler beneath, lobed; flowers nodding, 

 bright scarlet, yellow inside; sepals spreading; spurs nearly straight, about 

 twice as long as their blades. Common in the mountains. A form with 

 lighter colored flowers and more sharply incised leaves which may be distinct 

 occurs rarely on Snake River. 



149. PAEONIA. PAEONY. 



Robust perennial herbs with ternately or pinnately compound 

 leaves and showy flowers; sepals 5, herbaceous, persistent; 

 petals 5-10; stamens numerous, inserted on a fleshy disk; pistils 

 2-5 ; fruit of 2-5 leathery several-seeded follicles. 



Paeonia brownii Dougl. Whole plant glabrous and glaucous, 20-50 cm. 

 high, at first erect or ascending, in fruit decumbent; leaves thick, once or 

 twice ternately divided or parted, the ultimate segments from narrowly oblong 

 to obovate; sepals green, concave, unequal; petals dull brownish red, thick, 

 scarcely longer than the sepals; follicles usually 5, oblong, smooth, about 3 cm. 

 long; seeds black, shining. On open hillsides in the Blue Mountains. 



150. ACTAEA. BANEBERRY. 



Erect perennial herbs; leaves large, 2-3-ternately compound; 

 flowers small, white, in a terminal raceme; sepals 3-5, petal-like; 

 petals 4-10, small, spatulate or narrow-clawed; stamens numer- 

 ous; ovary 1-many-ovuled, in fruit forming a large somewhat 

 poisonous berry. 



Actaea spicata arguta (Nutt.) Torn Stems 30-60 cm. tall, erect; leaves 

 triternately decompound; leaflets obliquely ovate or lanceolate, acuminate, 

 coarsely incised-serrate or lobed, puberulent when young, 3-6 cm. long; 

 racemes densely flowered, 2-3 cm. long, becoming loose in age; berries bright 

 red, rarely white. In woods in the mountains. 



