44 RANUNCULACE^E. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 



7. MYOSXJBUS, Dill. MOUSE-TAIL. 



Sepals 5, spurred at the base. Petals 5, small and narrow, raised on a slen- 

 der claw, at the summit of which is a nectariferous hollow. Stamens 5 - 20. 

 Achenia numerous, somewhat 3-sided, crowded on a very long and slender 

 spike-like receptacle (whence the name, from p.vs t a mouse, and ovpa, a tail), 

 the seed suspended. Little annuals, with tufted narrowly linear-spatulate 

 root-leaves, and naked 1 -flowered scapes. Flowers small, greenish. 



1. M. minimus, L. Carpels blunt. Alluvial ground, Illinois and 

 Kentucky, thence south and west; apparently indigenous. (Eu.) 



8. ISOPi'RUM, L. (ENEMIOX, Raf.) 



Sepals 5, petal-like, deciduous. Petals 5, minute, wanting in the American 

 species. Stamens 10-40. Pistils 3-6 or more, pointed with the styles. Pods 

 ovate or oblong, 2 - several-seeded. Slender smooth herbs, with 2 - 3-ternately 

 compound leaves ; the leaflets 2 - 3-lobed. Flowers axillary and terminal, 

 white. (Name from tcroy, equal, and Trvpos, wheat; of no obvious application.) 



1. I. biternatum, Torr. & Gray. Petals none; pistils 3 -6 (commonly 

 4), divaricate in fruit, 2-3-seeded; seeds even. 1|. Moist shady places, Ohio 

 to Illinois, Kentucky, and westward. May. Fibres of the root thickened here 

 and there into little tubers. Aspect and size of the plant much as in Thalictrum 

 anemonoides. 



9. CALTHA, L. MARSH MARIGOLD. 



Sepals 5-9, petal-like. Petals none. Pistils 5 - 10, with scarcely any styles. 

 Pods (follicles) compressed, spreading, many-seeded. Glabrous perennials, 

 with round and heart-shaped or kidney-form, large, undivided leaves. (Name 

 from KaXaQos, a goblet, in allusion to the golden flower-cup or calyx.) 



1. C. palustris, L. (MARSH MARIGOLD.) Stem hollow, furrowed; 

 leaves round or kidney- shaped, either crenate or nearly entire ; sepals broadly 

 oval (bright yellow). Swamps and wet meadows, common northward. April, 

 May. This well-known plant is used as a pot-herb in spring, when coining 

 into flower, under the name of COWSLIPS ; but the Cowslip is a totally dif- 

 ferent plant, namely, a species of Primrose. The Caltha should bear with us, 

 as in England, the popular name of Marsh Marigold. (Eu.) 



10. TBOLLIUS, L. GLOBE-FLOWER. 



Sepals 5-15, petal-like. Petals numerous, small, 1 -lipped, the concavity 

 near the base. Stamens and pistils numerous. Pods 9 or more, sessile, many- 

 seeded. Smooth perennials with palmately parted and cut leaves, like Ra- 

 nunculus, and large solitary terminal flowers. (Name thought to be derived 

 from the old German word troll, a globe, or something round.) 



I*. T. laxus, Salisb. (SPREADING GLOBE-FLOWER.) Sepals 5-6, 

 spreading; petals 15-25, inconspicuous, much shorter than the stamens. 

 Deep swamps, New Hampshire to Delaware and Michigan. May. Flowers 

 twice the size of the common Buttercup ; the sepals spreading, so that the 



