RANUNCULACE^E. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 47 



16. ZANTHORHiZA, Marshall. SHRUB YELLOW-ROOT. 



Sepals 5, regular, spreading, deciduous. Petals 5, much smaller than the 

 sepals, concave and obscurely 2-lobed, raised on a claw. Stamens 5 to 10. 

 Pistils 5-15, bearing 2 pendulous ovules. Pods 1 -seeded, oblong, the short 

 style becoming dorsal in its growth. A low shrubby plant; 'the bark and the 

 long roots deep yellow and bitter. Flowers polygamous, brown purple, in com- 

 pound drooping racemes, appearing, along with the 1 - 2-pinnate leaves, from 

 large terminal buds in early spring. (Name compounded of avdos, yellow, and 

 pia, root,) 



1. Z. apiifolia, L'Her. Shady banks of streams, Sherburne, New York, 

 Dr. Douglass, and from the mountains of Pennsylvania southward. Stems 

 clustered, 1 - 2 high. Leaflets cleft and toothed. The rootstocks of this, and 

 also of the next plant, were used as a yellow dye by the aborigines. 



17. HYDRASTIS, L. ORANGE-ROOT. YELLOW PUCCOON. 



Sepals 3, petal-like, falling away when the flower opens. Petals none. Pis- 

 tils 12 or more in a head, 2-ovuled : stigma flat, 2-lipped. Ovaries becoming a 

 head of crimson 1 -2-seeded berries in fruit. A low perennial herb, sending 

 up in early spring, from a thick and knotted yellow rootstock, a single radical 

 leaf, and a simple hairy stem, which is 2-leaved near the summit, and terminated 

 by a single greenish-white flower. (Name perhaps from t>do>p, water, and 8pao>, 

 to act, alluding to the active properties of the juice.) 



1. H. Canadensis, L. Rich woods. New York to Wisconsin and south- 

 ward : rare. Leaves rounded, heart-shaped at the base, 5 - 7-lobed, doubly 

 serrate, veiny, when full grown in summer 4' -9' wide. 



18. ACT^EA, L. BANEBERRY. 



Sepals 4 or 5, falling off when the flower expands. Petals 4-10, small, flat, 

 spatulate, on slender claws. Stamens numerous, with slender white filaments. 

 Pistil single : stigma sessile, depressed, 2-lobed. Fruit a many-seeded berry. 

 Seeds smooth, flattened, and packed horizontally in 2 rows. Perennials, with 

 ample 2 - 3-ternately compound leaves, the ovate leaflets sharply cleft and 

 toothed, and a short and thick terminal raceme of white flowers. (Name from 

 aKTrj, the Elder, from some resemblance in the leaves.) 



1. A. spicata, L., var. rubra, Michx. (RED BANEBERRT.) Raceme 

 ovate ; petals rhombic-spatulate, much shorter than the stamens ; pedicels slen- 

 der; berries cherry-red, oval. (A. brachypetala, DC.) Rich woods, common, 

 especially northward. April, May. Plant 2 high. (Eu.) 



2. A. alba, Bigel. (WHITE BANEBERRY.) Taller and rather smoother 

 than the preceding ; raceme oblong ; petals slender, mostly truncate at the end, 

 appearing to be transformed stamens ; pedicels thickened in fruit, as large as the 

 peduncle and red, the globular-oval berries white. (A. spicata, var. alba, Michx., 

 and ed. 2. A. pachypoda, Ell.} Rich woods, flowering a week or two later 

 than the other, and more common westward and southward. White berries 

 rarely occur with slender pedicels, also red berries with thick pedicels : but 

 these are perhaps the result of crossing. 



