I. i?ANUNCULA Ct-li: : y/TllA GENE. 



17 



27. Atr^geneia.) 5.ihix\c^. 



J, 2. A. (a.) sibi'rica L. 'J lie Siberian Atragene. 



Identification. Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 1951. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 10. 



Synonymes. Auk%ene alphia G^ncl. Sib. 4. p. 194., Pall. Flor. Ross. 2. p. 69. ; Clematis sibirica 



Mill. Did. No. 12., ami Dfc. Prod. 1. p. 10. 

 Engravings. Sims, Bot. Mag., t. 1951. ; and ouryji'. 27. 



Spec. Char., S(c. Peduncles 1-flowered, almost equal in length with the 

 leaves. Leaves biternate ; leaflets oblong-lanceolate, acuminated, serrated. 

 Petals emarginate at the apex. (^Don's Mi/l.) A deciduous climber. 

 Siberia, on mountains. Height 6 ft. to 12 ft. Introduced in 1733. Flowers 

 wliite ; June and July. Fruit white ; ripe in August, 

 Decaying leaves brownish. 



Variety. A blue-flowered variety of this species is men- 

 tioned in Bot. Mag., t. 1591., which is probably the 

 A. ochot^nsis of Pallas, or possibly nothing more than 

 A. alpina L. 



There is a considerable similarity in this to the last, 

 in foliage and habit of growth ; but it is less robust and 

 less branchy ; its branches are more ligneous-looking, and 

 the segments of the leaves longer. The calyxes of the 

 flower are white, longer, and with the tips rather con- 

 nivent than spreading. The bark and foliage are of a 

 lighter colour, and the flowers longer than those of A. 

 alpina ; and the latter are perhaps less numerous. 



1 3. A. AMERiCA^NA Sims. The American Atragene. 



Identification. Sims, in Bot. Mag., t. 887. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 10. 



Synonyme. Clematis veiticiliaris i)cc. Prod. 1. p. 10., 2'or. <r Gray, I. p. 10. 



Engravings. Bot. Mag., 887. ; and our fig. 28. 



Spec. Char., ^c. Peduncles 1-flowered ; leaves whorled, in fours, ternate ; 

 leaflets stalked, cordate lanceolate, acuminated, entire or somewhat lobed 

 or serrated. Petals acute. (Don's Mill.) A deciduous climber. Ver- 

 mont to Carolina, on mountains and rocky places. Height 10 ft. to 15 ft. 

 Introduced in 1797. Flowers purplish blue; May to July. Fruit white,- 

 ripe ?. Decaying leaves dark brown. 



Variety. 



1 A. a. 2 obliqua Dou. MS. Leaflets bluntly serrated. 



This species is distinguishable from all the other Clema- 

 tideae described in this work, by the peculiarity of its leaves 

 being disposed, not oppositely in alternately decussating 

 pairs, but in whorls of four. This is an anomalous cha- 

 racteristic, which DeCandoUe has expressed by his specific 

 epithet verticillaris. The flowers are very large, and cam- 

 panulate. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, bright purplish blue. 28. yitrHgene a^SS^kna. 

 (Tor. and Gray.) Layers. 



Other Species and Varieties of Atragene. A. ochotensis Pall, we consider as a 

 variety o( A. sibirica L. A. columbidna Nutt., C, Columbiana Tor. ^- Gray, i. 

 p. 11., has ternate leaves, and pale blue flowers smaller than those oi A. ameri- 

 cana. It is a native of the Rocky Mountains, but has not yet been introduced. 



Tribe II. Pmq-^ia^cejl Dec. 



Trib. Char. At once distinguishable from Clematidese, by the character of 

 the anthers opening to admit the escape of the pollen on the side next 

 the ovaries. In Ciematideas, the anthers open on the side outward to the 

 ovaries. The aestivation is also imbricate, and the carpels from one-seeded 



c 



