RANUNCDLACE^E. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 13 



2. D. tric6rne, Michx. (DWARF LARKSPUR.) Leaves deeply 5-part- 

 ed, their divisions unequally 3 - 5-cleft ; the lobes linear, acutish ; raceme fev>- 

 flowered, loose; spur straightish, ascending; pods stronyly diverging. "]\. W. 

 Penn. to Illinois and southward. April, May. Root a tuberous cluster. Stem 

 simple, 6'- 12' high. Flowers bright blue, sometimes white. 



3. D. azure 11 in, Michx. (AZURE LARKSPUR.) Leaves deeply 3-5- 

 parted, the divisions 2-3 times cleft; the lobes all narrowly linear; raceme 

 strict; spur ascending, usually curved upwards ; pods 3-5, erect, 1J. Wiscon- 

 sin, Illinois, and southward. May, June. Stem l-2 high, slender, often 

 softly pubescent. Flowers sky-blue or whitish. 



4. I>. CONSOLIDA, L. (FIELD LARKSPUR.) Leaves dissected into nar- 

 row linear lobes ; racemes rather few-flowered, loose ; pedicels shorter than the 

 bracts; petals all combined into one body; pod one, glabrous. (D Penn. (Mer- 

 cersburg, Porter) and Virginia, escaped from grain-fields : and sparingly along 

 road-sides farther north. (Nat. from Eu. ) 



17, ACO-NITUM, Tourn. ACONITIS. MONKSHOOD. WOLFSBANE. 



Sepals 5, petal-like, very irregular ; the upper one (helmet) hooded or helmet- 

 shaped, larger than the others. Petals 2 (the 3 lower wanting entirely, or very 

 minute rudiments among the stamens), consisting of small spur-shaped bodies 

 raised on long claws and concealed under the helmet. Pistils 3-5. Pods sev- 

 eral-seeded. Seed-coat usually wrinkled or scaly. Perennials, with palmately 

 cleft or dissected leaves, and showy flowers in racemes or panicles. (The an- 

 cient Greek and Latin name, said to bo derived from Acone, in Bithynia.) 



1. A. niiciliatum, L. (WiLD MONKSHOOD.) Glabrous; stem slen- 

 der, erect, but weak and disposed to climb ; leaves deeply 3 - 5-lobcd, petioled ; the 

 lobes ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed ; flowers blue ; helmet erect, obtusely conical, 

 compressed, slightly pointed or beaked in front. Rich shady soil along streams. 

 S. W. New York, and southward along the mountains. June - Aug. 



2. A. reclinatiim, Gray. (TRAILING WOLFSBANE.) Glabrous > 

 stems trailing (3 -8 long) ; leaves deeply 3 -T -cleft, petioled, the lower orbicu- 

 lar in outline; the divisions wedge- form, incised, often 2-3-lobed; Jloivers irhite, 

 in very loose panicles ; helmet soon horizontal, elongated-conical, with a straight 

 beak in front. Cheat Mountain, Virginia, and southward in the Alleghanics. 

 Aug. Lower leaves 5' -6' wide. Flowers 9" long, nearly glabrous. 



18. ZANTIIORI1IZA, Marshall. SHRUB YELLOW-KOOT. 



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 or 3 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, dull purple, 

 in compound drooping racemes, appearing; along with the 1 - 2-pinnate leaves, 

 from large terminal buds in early spring. (Name compounded of av66s, 

 and pta, root.) 



