360 NATURAL HISTORY OF PLANTS. 



are to be seen in the conformation of the androceum and the recep- 

 tacle, and in tlie number of parts in the gynieceum. The anthers 

 are sometimes oval or oblong in Jforlelia, as in //. congcnta, cmirata, 

 sometimes didymous, as in //. tridentata, Gordoni, as well as in 

 Ivcma sanfolinoidps. The filaments are flattened, long, and triangular, 

 and nearly petaloid in //. congoHta and cuneaia, but filiform, as in the 

 true Potentils (a cbaracter said to be proper to !rrsia),"\n II. Gordoni 

 and Iridciitdfii} Tiie Horal receptacle rises into a higher tube in H. 

 congesta than in most Potentils ; but in most of the other species it 

 is more spreading ; in others, ngain, it is contracted below ; in short, 

 its form is by no means constant in the species which resemble each 

 other most closely in all other respects. In nearly all the Ilorkelias 

 the carpels are as numerous as in the true Potentils, wbile in Ivesia 

 their number is usually as much reduced as in Sibbaldia, most of 

 the species having only four or five ; and some, such as //. Gordoni^ 

 may only have two, or even only one. This latter number is constant 

 in the very remarkable plant named /. santolinoides,^ which has fifteen 

 stamens with didymous anthers, a hemispherical receptacle, and a hairy 

 disk at the insertion of the stamens, while the flowers are arranged 

 in cymes with slender axes, like those of a small Caryopbyllad, and the 

 leaves are very peculiar, as we shall see below. We have made it the 

 type of a distinct section under the name of Stellariopais. Its style is 

 articulated at the base; it is at first terminjil, and then becomes 

 inserted on the internal angle of the ovary below the summit. Its 

 insertion, and the presence of the articulation at its base are also 

 variable in the different llorkeliam and IvemiH above enume- 

 rated. All these plants^ are herbs, possessing alternate stipulate 

 pinnate leaves, with lobed leaflets. All have cymose flowers borne on a 

 common scape. The foliage sometimes recalls that of PuteiitUla or 

 Geum, sometimes that of Sjjircea or Saiiguisorha. The leaves of 

 J. sanloli/ioidcx appear at first sight to differ widely from these forms. 

 They are little silky cylinders, which at a distance appear of a 



' Acvonliiigly Aha (! ha v, wlm considered 7/. and /'o/fH/(7/<J, a C'liliforniaii sjKrii'.*, «itli >ilk> 



Gordoni »» «i doubliiil HpcrieM of thiit ^'inuH, be- letiHoU iirenscd together to turiu ii e^liudrical 



cauKe of the form of ibt tilanieiitH, li:ul phued tliiH blade, 



pluiit in the ^reiiUH IrtMta [l<,c. cit., Mu). ' A dozen Hi)ecie» liiivo Wen as vet diwribod, 



* It iH prububly to tlii» pltt'it that licNTiiAM nil nutivei* of North America, opicially the 



& IlookKK allude in their Urnmi when they Weslern rogiuna — Cuiifornia, tlie U»tky Moun- 



tile a« intermediate between J/orkrlin, Jrrsiii, tuinx, ic. 



