TH A 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



TH A 



659 



Hebrides, and found in the Andaman Isles, and the kingdom 

 of Pegu. 



3. Thalia Dealbata. Panicle albid-pulverulent; spathes 

 two-flov/ered ; leaves ovate, revolute at the tip; flowers small, 

 purple. Grows in the impenetrable swamps of South Caro- 

 lina. Pursh observes, that T. Millington, Esq. of South 

 Carolina, was the first discoverer of this elegant plant. It 

 has been introduced into the English gardens by the Messrs. 

 Frasers. 



Thalictrum ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Poly- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix : none, unless the 

 corolla be.taken for it. Corolla: petals four, roundish, obtuse, 

 concave, deciduous. Stamina : filamenta very many, wider 

 at top, compressed, longer than the corolla; antherse oblong, 

 erect. Pistil: germina many, commonly pedicelled, round- 

 ish; styles none; stigmas thickish. Pericarp : none. Seeds: 

 many, grooved, ovate, tailless. Observe. The number of 

 stamina and pistilla are different in the several species. ES- 

 SENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: none. Petals: four or five. 

 Seeds: tailless. The species are, 



1. Thalictrum Alpinum; Alpine Meadow Rue. Stem 

 quite simple, almost naked ; raceme simple, terminating. 

 The root consists of a few simple fibres, and creeps just 

 below the surface by horizontal runners. It is a delicate 

 little plant, scarcely a span high, and truly alpine. Peren- 

 nial, flowering early in the summer. Native of Lapland, 

 Wales, and Scotland, often found in wet black mould in 

 the clefts of rocks, or on the spongy margins of little rills, 

 upon very high mountains. This, with all its congeners, are 

 propagated by parting their roots in September, when the 

 leaves begijn to decay, that they may take fresh root before 

 the frost comes on. They may be planted in almost any 

 soil or situation, provided it be not very hot and dry; but 

 they prefer a fresh light soil and a shady situation. Most of 

 them creep so much as to be troublesome in a garden ; there- 

 fore it is better to confine their roots in pots plunged in the 

 ground. The third, fourth, and eighteenth, are frequently 

 cultivated in gardens ; their roots not creeping so much as 

 some of the others, and the flowers having some beauty to 

 recommend them. 



2. Thalictrum Foetidum; Fetid Meadow Rue. Stem pani- 

 cled, filiform, very branching, leafy; leaves triply compound, 

 minutely downy on both sides ; flowers drooping ; petals slightly 

 hairy; stigmas auricled at the base. Haller observes, that it 

 has all the habit of the ninth species, and can scarcely be 

 distinguished from it, except by a smell like that of Geranium 

 Robertianum, or, to that of cat's urine. It flowers from May 

 to July. Native of the south of France, &c. 



3. Thalictrum Tuberosum; Tuberous-rooted Meadow Rue. 

 Flowers five-petalled ; root tuberous. The stalks rise a foot 

 and half high, and are naked almost to the top, where they 

 divide into two or three small ones, under each of which is 

 placed one leaf ; every division is terminated by a small bunch 

 of pretty large flowers, disposed almost in form of an umbel, 

 each composed of five white petals. It flowers in June. 

 Native of Spain and the Pyrenees. 



4. Thalictrum Cornuti; Canadian Meadow Rue. Flowers 

 dioecious ; leaflets ovate, trifid ; panicles terminating. Root 

 perennial, fibrous ; stem two or three feet high ; flowers green- 

 ish-yellow. There is a variety which is somewhat smaller, 

 and has purple filamenta, which in the other are white. It 



I flowers from May to July. Native of North America. 

 5. Thalictrum Dioicum; Dioecious Meadow Rue. Flowers 

 duBcious; leaves roundish, cordate, lobed ; lobes obtuse; 

 panicles axillary, shorter than the leaf. It flowers in June 



Kd July. Native of North America. 

 VOL. II. 121. 



6. Thalictrum Elatum ; Tall Meadow Rue. Leaves ovate, 

 subcordate, subtrifid ; panicle terminating ; flowers erect ; 

 stem roundish. A hardy perennial, flowering from June to 

 August. Native of Hungary. 



7. Thalictrum Majus ; Great Meadow Rue. Leaflets 

 roundish, subcordate, trifid, glaucous beneath; panicle leafy; 

 flowers drooping. Stem purplish, panicled ; the flowering- 

 branches growing two or three together, the partial flower- 

 stalks generally umbellate. It flowers in June and July. 

 Native of Austria and Hungary, in woods and bushy places. 

 It has also been discovered on a bushy hill at Baydales 

 near Darlington, and on the margin of Ullswater in Cum- 

 berland. 



8. Thalictrum Medium; Middle Meadow Row. Leaflets 

 oblong-wedge-shaped, acute, trifid, the uppermost undivided, 

 lanceolate ; flowers nearly upright. Willdenow observes, that 

 this differs from the next species, in having the leaflets wedge- 

 shaped, the upper ones undivided and lanceolate, and the 

 flowers almost upright, never truly drooping. Native of 

 Hungary, where it is found upon the hills. 



9. Thalictrum Minus; Small Meadow Rue. Leaves tri- 

 pinnate ; leaves trifid, glaucous ; flowers panicled, droop- 

 ing. Stem almost upright, a foot high, flexuose, grooved, 

 glaucous, with a bluish bloom, leafy, panicled. Linneus's 

 character of six-parted leaves, has puzzled many persons : 

 Dr. Smith interprets it to mean, that the leaves are com- 

 pounded in a six-fold order, which is generally near the truth; 

 not as some have understood it, that the leaflets are in six 

 divisions, which can never be the case unless by accident, 

 as they have a central lobe, and consequently an odd number 

 of divisions. It was observed with broad leaves in Wales, 

 which variation ceased when it was transplanted into York- 

 shire : although Pollich remarks, that it varies with broader, 

 larger, and smaller leaves. Native of many parts of Europe, 

 in meadows. In Great Britain it occurs in various parts of 

 the country, in calcareous soils : but being found only in 

 such, it is by no means a common plant; though it is met 

 with on some of the sandy shores of Ireland. 



10. Thalictrum Rugosum ; Rough Meadow Rue. Stem 

 striated ; leaves wrinkled, veined ; lobules blunt. It flowers 

 in July. Native of North America. 



11. Thalictrum Sibiricum ; Siberian Meadow Rue. Leares 

 three-parted; leaflets subreflexed, sharply cut; flowers droop- 

 ing. Native of Siberia and Armenia. 



12. Thalictrum Squarrosum ; Square Meadow Rue. Leaf- 

 lets trifid and undivided; petioles embracing, membranaceous, 

 winged ; flowers drooping. This differs from all the preceding 

 species which have nodding flowers, in the structure of its 

 petiole, which is much widened at the base, with orbicular 

 membranaceous wings, toothed at the edge. Native of Si- 

 beria. 



13. Thalictrum Purpurascens ; Purplish Meadow Rue. 

 Leaves three-parted ; stem twice as high as the leaves ; flowers 

 drooping, purple. Native of Pennsylvania and Virginia. 



14. Thalictrum Angustifolium ; Narrow-lr.aved Meadotv 

 Rue. Leaflets lanceolate, linear, quite entire ; panicle much 

 branched, dense; flowers erect. Stems from two to three 

 feet high ; flowers small, in terminating panicles, of an her- 

 baceous white colour. It is allied to the next species, and, 

 in Willdenow's opinion, perhaps only a variety, he having fre- 

 quently observed some wider leaves of the cultivated plant ap- 

 proaching to those of the Flavum. It flowers in June and July. 

 Native of Germany, Switzerland, Carniola, and Italy. 



15. Thalictrum Flavum ; Common Meadow Rue. Leaves 

 bipinnate; leaflets trifid. Root yellow, perennial. Stem 

 grooved, three fest high, erect; panicle branched very much, 



8 E 



