56 .V. 1 Till A L HIS TOR Y OF FLA XTS. 



The genus Thaiidruiu consists of herbaceous perennials found in the 

 cold or temperate regions of Europe,' Eastern India/ the Cape/ and 

 America/ Tlie leaves are alternate and several times compound.* 

 The petiole, dilated at its base into a kind of sheath with mem- 

 branous edges, is usually very short and sometimes disappears. In 

 certain cases, as in T. (ifjuilpgifulium L , we observe small foliaceous 

 expansions or stipels at the base of each of the divisions of the 

 blade. The inflorescence is usually terminal, and consists of a 

 raceme or corymb, with many-tlowered cymes for branches. The 

 Howers become here, far more often than in Clamatis, polygamous 

 or monoecious, or dia-cious by abortion, especially in EuthaUrtrum 

 and P/ij/siocnrjji/in. 



Si/ndesmou, which was made by De Candolle a separate section* of 

 the genus ThaUctrum, and which has been also referred to the genus 

 Anemone, is distinguished from the preceding group by the enlarge- 

 ment of its subterranean portion, its few-llowered inflorescence, and 

 the sort of involucre formed by the bracts under the flowers. 

 With De Canuolle we shall leave this plant beside T. tuberosum 

 L., a closely analogous plant, which possesses the flowers of any 

 other ThaUctrum, with a solitary suspended ovule and no abortive 

 ones above it,^ contrary to what happens in Anemone. 



ActcBcc" has nearly all the essential characters of ThaUctrum. 

 Thus Actaea Cimicifuga L. (figs. 101, 102), which has been again 

 made the type of a special genus,' has the habit, the foliage, the 



estiiblished by De Candolle {Syst., i. 169; Anemone, thalictroidea L., Spec.,1Q2. — B. H., 



Prodr., i. 11). In Euthalictrum the ovules are Oen., 4. ThaUctrum anemonoides Hore pleno 



oval-oblong, with vertical, projecting edges. In (V. Houtte, Fl. des Serres, sor. 2, i. IGo). 



Phynocarpum (Physocarpidium Reicub., Con- ? On T. Tufjeroium, see J. Gav (Bull. Soc. 



sped., VM) the achenes arc stipitate and Bot. Fr., viii. 330). — Above the ovule are only 



tri(|uetrou8, with the angles winged, the two vertical, somewhat projecting lips of the 



' GuEN. L GoDK., Fl. Fr., i. 4. — Reichb., carpel. Not the less docs this plant show the 



Icon., iii. t. 26-10. — Kocii (Ann. Sc. Nat., close affinity of Thaliclrum and Aiumone, and 



8^r. 2, ix. 373).— De Massas, sur les Thalic- only confirms that of the latter with Clematis. 



trum de France (Ann. Sc. Nat., ser. 2, ix. The flowers appear arranged in cymes, and may 



351). — Reg EL, Uebem. der Art. O. Thalic- be even solitary. 



trum, welc/ie im Huxgisch, &c. (in Bull. ,Soc. " Arteta L., Oen., n. 64-1. — Jrss., Oen., 235. 



Nat. Moxr. (1H()1). 11). —DC, Prodr. i. 64.— SPACH, Suit, a Buff. vii. 



« Hook. & TiioMH.. Z'/. Ind., \. 12.— Roisa., 275.— Fiscn. & Mky., Anim. Bot. (Ann. Sc. 



Diayn. PI. Or. -S. & ZiCf., Fl. Jap. Fam., 69. Nat., si'r. 2, iv. 333).— Kndl., Uen., n. 4799. — 



•' \l\]iV. &.Soy<i)., Fl. Cap., \. 'A. R. II., Gen., 9, n. 27.— Wa LI'., /?'-;)., i. 60; 



* A. (Jhay, ///., t. 6. Ann., iv. 32.— H. Rx.. Adansonia, iv. 54; 



* As many as live or six times, according to the Did. Fitc. Sc. Med., i. 665. 



species. The leaves closely recal those of most » Cimirifuya L., Am. Acad., viii. 193, t. 4; 



Umbellifers. (Jen., n. 12H2. — Jrss., Gen., 234.— R. H., Oen., 



'^ ^ yrumosa (Prodr., i. l5).—Synde»mon 9, n. 28.— Walv., Jiep., i. 60 ; --Imm., iv. 32. 



HoKFMANSO., Flora (1832), Int. Bl., 34. — —Adinospora Tuiicz, Ms.i., ex Kiscii. & Mkt., 



Anemonella SPACll, Suit, a Buff., vii. 240.— I. cit., 332.— Enul., Orn., n. 4801, 4802. 



