JIANTJNGULACE^. 



57 



periantli, the androceum,' and tlie gymrceum of Tlifdicfrvm. Only 

 the carpels,- instead (jf one ovule, contain an indefinite number^ in 

 two vertical rows, and become follicles as in the Larkspurs and 

 Columbines. The number of petaloid sepals in this plant varies 

 from four to six (fig. 101), and they are imbricated in a variable 



/,,j/^^ '\ 





Actaa Cimicifuga. 

 Fig. 101. Fig. 102. 



Bud. Flower without the periauth. 



Actaa racemosa. 

 Fig. 103. 

 Flower without the perianth, 



manner.' The seeds, like those of the Larkspurs, bristle with small 

 projecting lamellae. As in ThaJidrum the carpels are sometimes 

 sessile (e.g. A. Cimicifiic/a), and sometimes supported on along slender 

 stalk, as happens in A. jjodocarjjci DC' Moreover, the number of 

 carpels may also be reduced to one, as happens in the section Con- 

 solida oi DelpJiiniiim ; this maybe seen in A. racemosa L.^ (fig. 103), 

 A. BraclnjpetaJa DC.^ (fig. 104), and especially in the European 

 species which Tournefort formerly called Chrisfojjhoriana,^ and which 

 under the name of A. spicafa (Ang. Baneherry, Herb Christopher) 

 (figs. 104-109) is often cultivated in our gardens. This has 

 moreover the peculiarity that its pericarp, instead of being dry and 

 dehiscent like a follicle, as it is in the other species, becomes fleshy, 

 and does not open to free the seeds, which are smooth on the 



' The stamens are indefinite, and equal or un- 

 equal. The filament generally tapers towards 

 its base, and the anther is always two-celled and 

 introrse. 



'^ The carpels are always grooved along the 

 whole of the inner border. The ovary is sur- 

 mounted by a style of very variable length, and 

 sometimes very short. 



^ They always have two coats, and arise one 

 after another, so that the youngest are always 

 uppermost. There are also a few close to the base 

 of the ovary which arise after the others. 



■» With four sepals we usually find two lateral 

 and exterior which overlap one another. The 

 posterior sepal nsually overlaps the anterior, but 

 this aestivation is not constant. When, as in A. 



spicata, we have four sepals and only one carpel, 

 its position is not constant, for it Is sometimes 

 superposed to one sepal, and sometimes in the in- 

 terval between two, which is more frequently the 

 case; but even these are not always the same ones. 



* Prodi:, i. 64, n. 2. — Icon. Delesser., i. 66. — 

 Cimicifuga Americana, L. C. Rich., ap. MiCHX., 

 Am. Bor., i. 316. 



« Spec, 722.— DC, Prodr., 6-4, n. h.—A. 

 monogyna Walt. — Cimifuga racemosa Bart, — 

 Botrophis Rafix. — Macrotys Rafin., X- York 

 3/frf. iZe^os., ii., hex. v. 350. — FiscH. & Met., 

 I. cit., 33k— ExDi., Gen., n. 4800. 



' Prodr., i. 65, n. 9. 



^ Inst if. 299, t. 154, " Christophoriana, qiia^i 

 planta S. Christophori." 



