DICOTYLEDONES : POLYPETALJ: : THALAMIFLOR^. 593 



Lesser Spearworts) ; they are all more or less poisonous. R. Ficaria (the 

 Lesser Celandine) has 3 sepals and usually 8 petals. 



Tribe 2. Helleborece. Perianth generally consisting of calyx and corolla, the 

 latter being occasionally suppressed ; the petals are glandular at the base : 

 ovaries usually fewer in number than the leaves of the perianth ; ovules numer- 

 ous, borne on the ventral suture ; fruit usually consists of several follicles. 



(a) With regular, generally actinornorphic, flowers : 



Helleborus, with acyclic flowers ; sepals more or less petaloid in | arrange- 

 ment ; the petals, which are small and tubular, iu | or ^^ ; stamens in /j- or 

 ij'j ; ovaries usually 3-5 (Fig, 397 D). H. niger is the Christmas Eose ; H. 

 viridis and fa^tidus are not rare. Nigella has 5 petaloid sepals and usually 8 

 (superposed if 5) small glandular petals : its carpels cohere partially or com- 

 pletely, forming a septicidal capsule. Trollius, the Globe-flower, has 5-15 

 petaloid sepals, and a similar number of small petals which, like the stamens 

 and carpels, are all arranged spirally : T. europceus occurs in sub-alpine regions. 

 Caltha, the Marsh-Marigold, has 5 yellow petaloid sepals, but no corolla : (7. 

 palustris is common in damp places. Eranthis, the Winter Aconite, has a 

 3-leaved epicalyx, and small petals with long 

 claws. Actaea has a petaloid calyx and an 

 alternating (sometimes suppressed) corolla ; 

 it has a single carpel which becomes a baccate 

 fruit: A. spicaia, the Baneberry or Herb 

 Christopher, occurs in woods. Aquilegia, the 

 Columbine, has a cyclic flower (Fig, 398) : 

 it has 5 petaloid sepals, and petals with long 

 spurs ; there are several whorls of stamens : 

 A. vulgaris, atrata, Aklei, and others occur 

 wild, or are cultivated as decorative plants. 



(b) W^ith irregular dorsiventral flowers: 



Delphinium, the Larkspur, has the pos- 

 terior of the 5 petaloid sepals prolonged into ^'*'- 398.-DiaRram of flower of 

 a spur : there are typically 5-8 petals, of *^"' ^^'*' 



which only the 2 (D, Ajacis; see Fig, 328 A) or 4 (D. Staphisagria) posterior 

 are developed ; the spurs of the two posterior petals project into that of the 

 posterior sepal : D. Staphisagria has 3-5 carpels ; D. Consolida and D. Ajacis, 

 common garden plants, have usually but one carpel. Iq Aconitum, the 

 Wolf's-bane or Monk's-hood, the posterior of the 5 petaloid sepals is large and 

 hooded ; the two posterior of the 8 petals have long claws, and are covered by 

 the posterior sepal, the others being inconspicuous (Fig. 397 E, c). 



Tribe 3. Pceoniea. The perianth consists of calyx and corolla, and the petals 

 are not glandular : ovaries with numerous ovules, surrounded by a disc : fruit 

 of several follicles. 



In Fffionia, the Peony, the flower is acyclic : the calyx consists of 5 sepals 

 which gradually pass into the foliage-leaves ; the petals are 5 or more. P. officiu- 

 alia, corallina, and others are cultivated as decorative plants ; P. Moutan has a 

 woody stem and a tabular disc. 



Order 2. Magnoliace-E. Perianth cyclic, consisting usually of 



