564 BOTANY. 



Adonis, the Pheasant's Eye, of Europe. 



Aquilegia, the Columbine, including our common Eastern species (A. 

 Canadensis) and the Rocky Mountain Long Spurred Columbine (A. 

 cwrulea), as well as the common one of Europe (A. vulgaris}. 



Clematis, the Virgin's Bower, of many species, native and foreign, all 

 pretty. 



Delphinium, the Larkspur, of many species, mostly foreign. 



Nigella, Love in a Mist, from the Old World. 



Pceonia, the Peony, of several species, from Europe, Siberia, and 

 China. 



Ranunculus, Buttercup, of several European species. 



Trollius, Globe Flower, from Europe and Siberia. 



Very few species afford nutritious products useful for food ; the 

 tuberous roots of a species of Ranunculus are gathered and eaten in 

 some parts of Central Europe, and a few fleshy species (as, for example, 

 CaltJia palustris, Ranunculus sceleratuu, etc.) are used to a limited ex- 

 tent as pot herbs. 



Fossil Dicotyledons. No Dicotyledons are known in the periods 

 earlier than the Cretaceous. In this, however, many modern orders 

 are represented. In the Cretaceous of the Western Territories of the 

 United States Lesquereux describes* one hundred species of Dicotyle- 

 dons. Of these sixty belong to the Apetalae, five to the Gamopetalae, 

 and thirty-five to the Choripetalse (Polypetalae). The Apetalae include 

 five species of Populus, six of Salix, eight of Quercus, six of Platanus, 

 seven of Sassafras, etc. Among the remarkable fossils are a species of 

 Ficus from Minnesota, two species of Cinnamomum from Kansas, and 

 f wo of Laurus from Nebraska. The five species of Gamopetalse repre- 

 sent the Ericaceae <& single species of Andromeda), Ebenaceae (two spe- 

 cies of Diovpyros from Kansas and Nebraska), and Sapotaceae (two spe- 

 cies, one a Bumelia from Nebraska and Minnesota). Among the spe- 

 cies of Choripetalae are five of Magnolia, two of Liriodendron, one of 

 Hedcra, one of Prunus, one of Pirns, etc., from Kansas, Nebraska, and 

 Dakota. 



In the Tertiary most of the more important orders of Dicotyledons 

 are represented. Here, as in the Cretaceous, there is still a predomi- 

 nance of Apetalous species ; thus in the Tertiary Flora of the Western 

 Territories! there have been determined of the Apetalse one hundred 

 and twelve species, Gamopetalae, nineteen, and Choripetalae, sevent^, 

 nine. The Apetalae are principally represented by the Myricaceae 

 (twelve species of Myrica), Betulaceae, Cupuliferse (a Carpinus, a Gory- 

 lus,& Fagus, a Caslanea, and eighteen species of Quercus), Juglandaceae 



*" Contributions to the Fossil Flora of the Western Territories. 

 Part I., The Cretaceous Flora," by Leo Lesquereux. Washington, 

 1874. 



f Leo Lesquereux, op. cit. Part II., "The Tertiary Flora," 1878. 



