376 



EXOGENOUS OR DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. 



704. Ord, Raimncillaceae (the Crowfoot Family}. Herbaceous, 

 occasionally climbing plants, with an acrid watery juice, and usu- 

 ally palmately or ternately lobed or divided leaves, without stip- 

 ules. Calyx of three to six, usually five, distinct sepals, decidu- 

 ous, except in Pa3onia and Helleborus. Petals five to fifteen, or 

 sometimes none. Stamens indefinite, distinct. Ovaries numer- 

 ous, rarely few or solitary, distinct. Embryo minute, at the base 

 of firm albumen (Fig. 455, 456). Ex. Ranunculus, the Butter- 

 cup, which has regular flowers with petals. Clematis (Virgin's 

 Bower), Anemone, and Hepatica (Liver-leaf), which have no pet- 

 als, but the calyx is petaloid : the latter has an involucre entirely 

 resembling a calyx, and the leaves of the former are opposite. In 

 all these examples the ovaries are one-seeded, and the flowers reg- 

 ular. In others, the ovaries contain several seeds, and the flowers 

 are irregular, or with the petals in the form of spurs or different 

 shaped bodies. Actaea (Cohosh, Baneberry) and one Larkspur 

 have a solitary ovary : in the latter the petals are consolidated. 



Zanthorhiza (Yellow-root) has only five or ten stamens. The 



FIG. 476. Flower of a Ranunculus. 477. Vertical section through the receptacle ; the se- 

 pals, petals, and most of the stamens taken away. 478. A petal, with the nectariferous scale 

 at its base. 479. Section through an ovary, showing the solitary ovule attached to the base of 

 the cell. 480. Flower and part of a leaf of Aquilegia Canadensis (Wild Columbine). 481. A 

 detached petal. 482. The five carpels of the fruit. 433. A separate follicle. 484. Vertical 

 section of the seed, showing the minute embryo. 485. Flower of Delphinium, or Larkspur, 

 with its spurred calyx ; which is removed in 486, to show the four irregular petals and the 

 stamens. 



