RANUNCULACE^. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 35 



Tribe III. HKL.L.EBOKE^. Sepals iniliricatud in the bud, rarely persistent, petal- 



lilie. Petals often nectariferous or reduced to staniinodia or none. Pods (follicles) or 



berries (in n. 20, 21) few, rarely single, few -many-seeded. — Leaves alternate. 



* Ovules and commonly seeds more tlian one i)air. Ilerbs. 



-•- Flowers regular, not racemose. Petals inconsiiicuous nectaries or slender or none. Sepals 



tardily deciduous. 



10. Isopyrum. Petals none. Sej^als broad, wliite. Pods few. Leaves compound. 



11. Caltha. PetJils none. Sepals broad, yellow. Leaves ki(luey-sliai>ed, undivided. 



12. Trollius. Petals 5-20, narrow, pitted above the base. Pods sessile. Leaves pal- 



niately lobed. 



13. Coptis. Petals 5-6, small, hollowed at apex, white. Pods long-stalked. Leaves 



radical, trifoliolate. 



14. Helleborns. Petals small, tubular, 2-lipped, Sepals 5, broad, persistent and turning 



green. Pods sessile. 



15. £rantliis. Petals small 2-lipped nectaries. Sepals 5-8, narrow, deciduous. Flower 



solitary, involucrate. 



■*- -t- Sepals and large spur-shaped petals regular, each 5. 



16. Aqnilegria. Pistils 5, with slender styles. Leaves ternately compound. 



•»-■»--»- Flowers unsymmetrical and irregular. Sepals 5. 



17. Delphininm. Ui>per sepal spurred. Petals 4, of two fonns ; the upper pair with 



long spurs, enclosed in the spur of the calyx. 



18. Aconitnm. Upper sepal hooded, covering the two long-clawed small petals. 

 ■*-■*-->-■*- Flowers regular, racemose. Sepals caducous. Petals very small, stamen-like, or 



none. Leaves decompound. 



19. Ciiuicif uga. Flowers in long often paniculate racemes. Pistils 1-8, becoming 



many-seeded pods. 



20. Actaea. Flowers in a single short raceme. Pistil single, forming a many-seeded 



berry. 



* * Ovules a single pair. Flowers regular. Roots yellow and bitter. 



21. Hydrastis. Flowers solitary. Sepals 3, petal-like, caducous. Petals none. Sta- 



mens numerous. Pistils several, becoming 2-seeded bennes. Leaves simple, lobed. 



22. Xanthorrhiza. Flowers in compound racemes. Sepals 5. Petals 5, small, 2-lobed, 



with claws. Stamens 5 - 10. Pods 1-seeded. Shrub with pinnate leaves. 



1. CLEMATIS, L. Virgin's-Bower. 



Sepals 4, or rarely more, colored, the valvate margins turned inward in tlie 

 bud. Petals none or small. Achenes numerous in a head, bearing the per- 

 sistent styles as naked, hairy, or plumose tails. — Perennial herbs or vines, 

 mostly a little woody, and climbing by the bending or clasping of the leaf- 

 stalks, rarely low and erect. Leaves opposite. (KAtj^ot/s, a name of Diosco- 

 rides for a climbing plant with long and lithe brandies.) 



§ 1. FLAMMULA. Flowers r i/mose-pam'culate , rather small, in our species 

 diacious. Sepals petoloid, ichitish, spreading, thin. Petals none. Anthers 

 short, blunt. 



1. C. Virgini^na, L. (Common Virgin's-Bower.) Smooth; leaves 

 bearing 3 ovate acute leaflets, wbich are cut or lobed. and somewliat heart- 

 shaped at the base; tails of the fruit plumose. — Kiver-banks, etc., common, 

 climbing over shrubs. July, August. 



2. C. ligusticifblia, Nutt. Very similar, bjit the leaves 5-foliolate or 

 quinate-ternate. — Long Pine, Neb., and west to the Pacific. 



