380 



ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE NATURAL ORDERS. 



737. Ol'd. Raniinculacea! {Crowfoot Family). Herbaceous, occa- 

 sionally climbing plants, with an acrid watery juice, and usually 

 palmately or ternately lobed 



or divided leaves, without 

 stipules. Calyx of three to 

 six, usually five, distinct 

 sepals, deciduous, except in 

 Pajonia and Helleborus. 

 Petals five to fifteen, or 

 often none. Stamens indefi- 

 nite, distinct. Ovaries nu- 

 merous, rarely few or soli- 

 tary, distinct, in fruit becoming achenia (Fig. 566, 567) or follicles 

 (Fig. 579, 648, 649), or in Aetata a berry. Embryo minute, at the 

 base of firm albumen (Fig. 650, 610). — Ex. Ranunculus, the But- 

 tercup (Fig. 645), which has regular 

 flowers with petals. Clematis (Vir- 

 gin's Bower, which is the type of a 

 tribe), Anemone (Fig. 411), Hepatica 

 (Liver-leaf), &c. have no petals, but 

 the calyx is pctaloid. In these the flow- 

 ers are regular. The Larkspur (Fig. 

 398) and Monkshood (Fig. 401) have 

 the flowers irregular, and the Colum- 

 bine (Fig. 646) has petals in the form 

 of spurs. Actaea (Baneberry) and 

 one Larkspur have a solitary ovary : 

 in the latter the petals are consoli- 

 dated. Zanthorhiza (Yellow-root) has 

 only five or ten stamens. — The juice 

 of all Ranunculaceous plants is acrid, or even caustic : some, as the 

 Aconite, are virulent narcotico-acrid poisons. 



738. Ord. DillcniflCerc, consisting chiefly of tropical and Australian 

 shrubs and trees, probably includes Crossosoma of Nuttall, a singu- 

 lar Californian genus. The order ranks between the preceding 

 and succeeding, but is nearer the former, from which it is known by 

 its arillate seeds. 



FIG. 645. Vertical section of the flower of a Buttercup. 



FIG 646. Flower and part of a leaf of Aquilegia Canadensis (Wild Columbine) 647 A 

 detached petal. 648 The five carpels of the fruit. 649 A separate follicle. 650. Vertical 

 section of the seed, showing the minute embr} o. 



