RANUNCULACEAE (BUTTERCUP FAMILY) 97 



AA. Stem erect, scapose or i-leaved; flowers white or purplish; follicles more or less 



stalked. 



B. Leaf blades wider than long, reniform-orbicular; sepals lanceolate, acute. W. 



C. E. C. leptosepala 



BB. Leaf blades longer than wide, roundish to oblong-cordate; sepals oblong to 



spatulate, obtuse. W. C. C. biflora 



ISOPYRUM (FALSE RUE) 



Herbs, perennial, low, smooth. Leaves alternate, ternately 2-3- 

 compound. Flowers white, solitary or clustered. Sepals 56, petal- 

 like, regular, deciduous. Petals none or very small. Stamens 10-40. 

 Follicles 2-20. Seeds 2 to several. (Gk. isopyron = the name of some 

 plant of the genus Fumaria.) 



A. Stem 0.5-1 dm. high, i-flowered; sepals oblong, 6 mm. long; follicles short-stalked. 



W. I. stipitatum (SMALL FALSE RUE) 



AA. Stem 3-9 dm. high, several -flowered; sepals obovate, 8 mm. long; follicles 



sessile. W. I. hallii (TALL FALSE RUE) 



COPTIS (GOLDTHREAD) 



Herbs, perennial, low, glabrous; rootstalks creeping. Leaves ternately- 

 compound. Flowers white, solitary or few, on naked scapes. Sepals 

 5-7, petal-like, deciduous, white or greenish. Petals 5-6, small, linear, 

 cucullate. Stamens 10-25. Follicles 3-12. (Gk. kopto = to cut; from 

 the divided leaves.) 



A. Leaflets obscurely 3-lobed ; sepals oval or oblong, obtuse; petals enlarged at the sum- 

 mit. W. C. E. C. trifolia 

 AA. Leaflets rather deeply lobed or segmented; sepals linear or ligulate, attenuate; 



petals enlarged near the middle. 

 B. Leaves ternate. 



C. All 3 leaflets long-petioluled; leaf-divisions obtuse, obtusely dentate; seed 



oblong. C. E. C. occidentalis 



CC. Middle leaflet long-petioluled, lateral short-petioluled; leaf-divisions acute, 



acutely dentate; seed oval. W. C. C. laciniata 



BB. Leaves pinnately s-foliolate. W. C. asplenifolia 



ACTAEA (BANEBERRY) 



Herbs, perennial, tall. Leaves alternate, ternately 3-compound. Flowers 

 small, white, in short terminal racemes. Sepals 5-6, nearly equal, petal- 

 like. Petals 4-10 or none, less showy than the stamens. Stamens many. 

 Stigma wide, 2-lobed, covering the carpel. Seeds many. (Gk. aktea = 

 an old name for the Elder.) 



A. Leaf teeth sharp, acuminate. W. C. E. A. arguta 



AA. Leaf teeth rounded or mucronate. E. A. rubra 



F. & R. EL. FL. 7 



