102 



RANUNCULACEAE. 



VOL. IT. 



16. SYNDESMON Hoffmg. Flora, 15 : Part 2, Intell. Bl. 4, 34. 1832. 



[ANEMONELLA Spach, Hist. Veg. 7: 239. 1839.] 

 A glabrous perennial herb from a cluster of tuberous-thickened roots, with basal 2-3- 

 ternately compound leaves, those of the involucre similar but sessile, and large terminal 

 umbellate slender-pedicelled white flowers. Sepals thin, petaloid. Petals none. Stamens all 

 anther-bearing. Achenes terete, deeply grooved; stigma sessile, truncate. [Greek, bound 

 together, the plant uniting many of the characters of Anemone and Thalictrum.] 

 A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 



t. Syndesmon thalictroides (L.) Hoffmg. Rue-Anemone. Fig. 1891. 



Anemone thalictroides L. Sp. PI. 542. 1753. 

 Thalictrum anemonoides Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i : 



322. 1803. 

 Syndesmon thalictroides Hoffmg. Flora 15: 



Part 2, Intell. Bl. 4, 34. 1832. 

 Anemonella thalictroides Spach, Hist. Veg. 7 : 



240. 1839. 



Low, glabrous, 4'-$' high, the flowering 

 stem arising in early spring from the cluster 

 of tuberous roots, the ternately-compound 

 basal leaves appearing later and resembling 

 those of Thalictrum. Leaves of the involucre 

 similar, sessile, the leaflets long-petioled; 

 sepals. 5-10, white or pinkish, longer than the 

 stamens; flower 4'-i' broad; flowers perfect, 

 umbellate immediately above the involucre; 

 achenes sessile, pointed, 4"-6" long. 



In woods, New Hampshire and Massachusetts 

 to Florida, Ontario, Minnesota and Kansas. 

 Leaflets are occasionally borne on the stem below 

 those of the involucre. March-June. Wind- 

 flower. May-flower. 



17. PULSATILLA [Tourn.] Mill. Card. Diet. Abr. Ed. 4. 1754. 



Perennial scapose herbs, with thick rootstocks, basal long-petioled digitately dividet 

 leaves, and large purple or white solitary flowers. Involucre remote from the flower 

 3-leaved. Sepals petaloid. Petals none. Inner stamens anther-bearing, the outer ones oftei 

 sterile. Achenes with long persistent plumose styles. [Latin name, unexplained.] 



About 1 8 species, natives of the north temperate and subarctic zones. Besides the following 

 another occurs in northwestern North America. Type species : Anemone Pulsatilla L. 



i. Pulsatilla patens (L.) Mill. Pasque 

 Flower. Fig. 1892. 



Anemone patens L. Sp. PI. 538. 1753. 

 P. patens Mill. Card. Diet. Ed. 8, No. 4. 1768. 

 ^Clematis hirsutissima Pursh. Fl. Am. Sept. 385. 1814. 

 Anemone Nuttalliana DC. Syst. i: 193. 1818. 

 Anemone patens var. Nuttalliana A. Gray, Man. Ed. 5, 



36. 1867. 

 P. hirsutissima Britton, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 6' 217. 



1891. 



Villous, 6'-i6' high. Leaves much divided into 

 narrow linear acute lobes, the basal on slender 

 petioles, those of the involucre sessile and erect 

 or ascending; sepals ovate-oblong, light bluish- 

 purple; fruit a head of silky achenes with long 

 plumose styles, like those of some Clematis. 



In dry soil, prairies of Illinois to British Columbia, 

 Nebraska and Texas. Europe and northern Asia. After 

 flowering the peduncle elongates, sometimes to a foot or 

 more. Consists of several races, the American ones 

 mostly with wider leaf-lobes than the European. March- 

 April. American pulsatilla. Hartshorn- or head-ache-plant. Wild crocus." Mayflower. Easter 

 flower. Gosling. Badger. April-fools. Prairie-smoke or -anemone. Wind-flower. Rock-lily. 



