P^ONIA. 



P^ONIA. 



Sepals 5, leafy, unequal. Petals 5-10, roundish. Stamens 

 numerous. Disk fleshy surrounding the ovaries. Carpels 2-5, 

 with double thick stigmas. Follicles fleshy, many-seeded. 

 Seeds numerous, dry, round. 



38. P. officinalis Retz. obs. iii. 35. Bot. mag. t. 1784. DC. 

 prodr. i. 65. ITatovia S^Xsta, Dioscorides, according to Sibth. 

 rxwwo-i&j S^Xfta, Dioscorides, according to Spreng. Woods and 

 groves in various parts of Europe, especially in the south. 



Herbaceous. Carpels downy nearly, straight. Segments of the leaves 

 unequally slashed, smooth, with ovate-lanceolate lobes. Seeds emetic 

 and cathartic. Root reportd to be antispasmodic. 



39. P. corallina Retz. is said to be the Uaiwia, or 

 Kpofiv of Dioscorides. 



PODOPHYLLE^E. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 7. 



PODOPHYLLUM. 



Sepals 3. Petals 6-9. Stamens 12-18. Fruit fleshy, 

 1-celled, many-seeded, crowned by the crenated sessile stigma. 



4-0. P. peltatum Linn, sp.pl 722. DC. prodr. i. 111. Bi- 

 gelow med. bot. ii. t. 23. Barton mat. med.ii. t. 25. Low shady 

 situations in the United States. (May Apple, Mandrake in 

 North America.) 



Rhizoma jointed, about half the size of the finger, spreading exten- 

 sively in rich grounds, where it gets introduced. Stem about 1 foot in 

 height, and invested at its base by the sheaths which covered it when 

 in bud ; smooth, round, erect, dividing at top into two round petioles 

 from 3 to 6 inches long ; each petiole supports a large peltate palmate 

 leaf, smooth above, slightly pubescent beneath, deeply divided into 

 about seven lobes, which are wedge-shaped, 2-parted, and toothed at 

 the extremity. In barren stems which support but one leaf, the pel- 

 tate character is most perfect. Flower solitary in the fork of the stem, 

 on a round nodding peduncle 1 or 2 inches long. Sepals 3, oval, ob- 

 tuse, concave, cohering in the bud by their scarious margins, and break- 

 ing off* at the base, when the flower expands. Petals from 6 to 9, but 

 more frequently 7, even in luxuriant specimens ; obovate, obtuse, con- 

 cave, smooth, white, with slight transparent veins. Stamens shorter than 

 the petals, curving upwards j anthers oblong, twice as long as their fila- 

 13 



