CiMiciFUGA. RANUNCULACE^. 23 



Woods, in rich soil, not rare. Fl. Latter part of June - July. Fr. September. A showy 

 plant when in flower. It is a popular remedy in most parts of the United States, being consi- 

 dered tonic and astringent, stimulating the secretions of the skin, kidneys, uterus and lungs. 

 See Wood <^ Bache's U. S. Dispens. p. 200. 



14. THALICTRUM. Linn.; Endl. gen. 4:772. meadow RUB. 



[Greek, i/uiUo, to be green or flourishing,] 



Sepals 4, rarely 5, petaloid, usually caducous. Petals none. Stamens numerous ; anthers 

 innate. Carpels (achenia) 4 - 15, pointed with the short style or stigma, sulcate or ribbed, 

 sometimes inflated. Seed suspended. — Perennial herbs. Leaves bi-triternately divided. 

 Flowers corymbose or paniculate, often dioecious or polygamous, greenish-white or yellow. 



§ I. EuTHALicTRUM, DC. Carpels ovoid or oblong, ribbed, sessile or slightly stipilate, 

 i Sepals caducous, sliorter than the stamens : rootfibrmis. 



1. Thalictrum dioicum, Linn. Early Meadotc Rue. 



Very smooth, dioecious or polygamous ; filaments filiform ; anthers linear, elongated, 

 mucronate ; leaves on short petioles, ternately decompound ; leaflets rounded, crenatelv and 

 obtusely lobed, glaucous beneath ; peduncles as long as the leaves ; carpels oblong, sessile, 

 strongly ribbed, twice the length of the slender curved style. — Pursh, fl. 2. p. 388; DC. 

 prodr. l.p. 12; Hook.fl. Bar. -Am. 1. p. 3; Darlingt.fl. Cest. p. 333; Ton: ^ Gr.fl. N. 

 Am. l.p. 39. T. lasvigatum, Michx.fl. \.p. 322. 



Stem 1-2 feet high, slender, somewhat branched, with sheathing stipules at the base. 

 Common petiole 1-3 inches long ; leaflets about three-fourths of an inch in diameter, more 

 or less distinctly 3-lobed, the lobes crenatelv toothed. Sepals 4-5, oval, obtuse, often pur- 

 plish. Filaments much longer than the sepals, weak, almost capillary and nearly of the 

 same thickness throughout ; anthers yellowish. Fertile flowers with 6-8 stamens. Pistils 

 6 - 10 ; the styles (including the stigmatic portion) longer than the ovary ; the persistent base, 

 in maturity, shorter than the carpel : stigmas linear, elongated. 



Common in woods, particularly in rich soil among rocks. Fl. April - May. Fr. June. 



2. Thalictrum Cornuti, Linn. Common Meadow Rue. 

 Dioecious or polygamous; filaments somewhat clayate ; anthers oblong, obtuse; leaves 



sessile (the petiole divided to the base), ternately decompound ; leaflets roundish-obovate or 

 elliptical, 3-lobed, with the lobes rather acute, glaucous or somewhat pubescent beneath ; pe- 

 duncles longer than the leaves ; carpels nearly sessile, acute at each end, strongly ribbed, twice 

 as long as the style ; stigma linear-oblong. — Linn. sp. p. 768 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 338 ; Hook. 



