204 ORDER 1. RANUNCULACE^E. 



Observation. Many other foreign species are ornamental, and perhaps rarely 

 cultivated. They all prei'er a fresh, loamy soil 



3. HEPATICA, Dill. LIVERWORT. Fig. 132, 190. (Gr. ^naro^ 

 of the liver ; from the fancied resemblance of the leaf.) Involucre of 

 3 entire, ovate, obtuse bracts, resembling a calyx, situated a little below 

 the flower ; calyx of 5 9 petaloid sepals, disposed in 2 or 3 rows ; 

 corolla ; achenia awnless. 



H. triloba Chaix (and acutiloba DC). Lvs. trilobate, the lobes entire; scape 

 1-flowered, hairy. Woods, Can. to Ga., and Wise. This little plant is one of the 

 earliest harbingers of spring, often putting forth its neat and elegant flowers in 

 the neighborhood of some lingering snow bank. The root consists of numerous 

 and strong fibers. Lvs. all radical, on long, hairy petioles, smooth, evergreen, 

 coriaceous, divided into three lobes, which suggest all its names. Fls. on scapes 

 3 4' long, solitary, numerous, generally blue, but frequently in varieties of white 

 and flesh color. In cultivation they become double. In respect to the form of 

 leaves there are two varieties : 



. OBTUSA, lobes obtuse, rounded. Prefers the south side of hills. 



(3. ACUTA, lobes acute. Prefers the north side of hills. (II. acutiloba, D. C.) 



4. THALICTRUM, Tourn. MEADOW Kjjir. (Said to be frora 

 fla/lAto, to be green.) Calyx colored, of 4 5 roundish, concave, 

 caducous sepals ; corolla ; filaments GO, compressed, dilated upward, 

 longer than the calyx; ovaries numerous (4 15); achgnia sessile or 

 stipitate, ribbed or inflated, pointed with the stigma or short style. 

 U Lvs. ternately compounded, with stalked leaflets. Fls. paniculate, 

 often ? $ or ? Q $ . 



* Carpels mostly 10 or 12, beaked with a style Nos. 1, 2 



* Carpels few (4 6), with sessile stigmas Nos. 3, 4 



1 T. dioicum L. 5 $ ; stem leaves on a short common petiole ; Ifts. obtusely 

 6-7 lobed ach. about 8, sessile. Hilly woods, Brit Am. to Ga. and Ala. A 

 slender and delicate plant, glabrous and glaucous, 1 2f high. Lvs. ternately 

 decompound, the cauline on petioles 1 3' long, shortening upward. Lfts. roundish, 

 about ' diameter, with 5 7 obtuse lobes, paler beneath. Filaments filiform, longer 

 than the 5 obtuse sepals. The slender terminal panicle is often purplish, gener- 

 ally pale green. Fruit strongly ribbed and distinctly pointed. May. 



2 T. cornuti L. $ $ ; stem Ivs. all sessile (no common petiole) ; Ifts. roundish 

 obovate, rather acutely 3-lobed; ach. about 12, substipitate, ribbed. Common 

 in meadows. Stem 3-4f high, smooth, hollow, jointed, furrowed, Lvs. resem- 

 bling those of the columbine (Aquilegia), green above, smooth, several times 

 compounded. Lf;s. 1-2' long, f as wide. Panicles large and diffuse. Jn., JL 



0. PURPURASCKNS. Stems purplish, tall; stem-lvs. sessile or the lower with 

 short stalks ; fls. purp'ish-green, with drooping capillary fil. Ifts. thickish, 

 the sides revolute. Dry hills, N. II. to Ga. (T. purpurascens L.) 



3 T. clavatum, D C. Fls, perfect ; Ivs. cauline : panicle corymbous : ach. stiped. 

 N. Car. (Curtis). Plant very smoooth, 2f or more in hight. Lvs. biternate, on 

 petioles 1' in length ; Ifts. roundish, obtusely 3 5-lobed, glaucous beneath. 

 Panicles loose and capillary. Fruit inflated, obovate, striate, each as long as its 

 slender stipe, acute. Style 0. 



4 T. alpinura L. Lvs. mostly radical : fls. $ in a simple raceme : ach. ovate, 

 sessile. Can. and northward. Plant about 6' high, glabrous. Lvs. petiolate, 

 biternate; Ifts. roundish, about 4' diam., crenately toothed. Stems few-leaved, 

 terminating in a cluster of a few nodding flowers on slender pedicels. Fila- 

 ments filiform. Style 0. 



5. TRAUTVETTfiRIA, Fisch. and Meyer. (Named in honor of 

 Trautvctter, a German botanist.) Sepals 4 5, colored, caducous ; 

 petals 0; stamens oo, petaloid ; carpels 15 20, membranous and in- 



