RANUNCULACE.E. Clematis. 



Order I. RANUNCULACE^. 



Herbaceous or somewhat shrubby i^lants, with colorless and usually acrid juice ; 

 distinguished by the polyandrous and often polygynous flowers ; the numerous sta- 

 mens hypogynous (perigynous in Crossosoma) ; the sepals, petals, stamens, and few 

 or numerous (in Adcea solitary) pistils all distinct and free. Sepals very commonly 

 colored and petaloid. Petals in many wanting or in the form of nectaries. Anthers 

 short. Seeds sohtary or several, with minute embryo in firm-fleshy albumen. — 

 Foliage various : stipules none. 



An order of 31 genera, several of which are numerous in species, widely distributed over the 

 world, but most largely represented in the northern temperate and frigid zones. Several are used 

 in medicine ; some (like Aconite) are acrid poisons ; and many are cultivated for ornament. 



Our thirteen genera belong to six tribes, which need not be recapitulated, as their characters 

 may be more easily apprehended from a simple key. 



Synopsis of Genera. 



* Sepals petal-like, valvate-induplicate in the bud, deciduous : leaves all opposite. 



1. Clematis. Half-woody, climbing by the petioles. Petals none or minute. Fruit a head of 



hairy-tailed akenes. 

 * * Sepals petal-like or sometimes greenish, imbricated in the bud, deciduous: herbs. 

 Hh Carpels numerous, 1-ovuled, in fruit becoming akenes. 

 ++ Leaves on the stem opposite or whorled on or below 1 -flowered peduncles. 



2. Anemone. Sepals 4 to 20, petal-like. Petals none. Akenes in a head. 



++ ++ Leaves all alternate. 



3. Thalictrum. Flowers mostly diojcious, pauicled. Petals none. Akenes several in a head. 



4. Myosurus. Flowers perfect, solitary on a scape. Sepals spurred at base. Petals slender. 



AkriiL's very numerous in a long slender spike. 



5. Ranunculus. Flowers perfect. Sepals not spurred. Petals generally broad and conspic- 



uous (rarely minute). Akenes numerous in a globular or oblong head. 



-i- +- Carpels few, several-ovuled, becoming follicles (pods) in fruit. 

 ++ Flowers regular. 



6. Caltha. Petals none : leaves simple and round-reniform : carpels 5 to 12. 



7. Isopyrum. Petals none : leaves ternately compound : carpels 3 to 6. 



8. Aquiiegia. Petals 5, all spurred backward : leaves ternately compound : carpels 5. 



++ ++ Flowers irregular. 



9. Delphinium. Upper sepal produced backward into a spur : carpels 1 to 5. 



10. Aconitum. Upper sepal arched into a hood : carpels 3 to 5. 



-1- -i- 4- Carpel one, many-ovuled, in fruit a berry. 



11. Actaea. Sepals caducous : petals smaU. Leaves ternately compound. Puaceme short. 



* * * Sepals herbaceous, imbricated in the bud, persistent : petals conspicuous : carpels few, 

 becoming many-seeded follicles in fruit : leaves alternate. 



1 2. Pgeonia. Herbs, with compound leaves. Seeds not arillate. 



13. Crossosoma. Shrubs, with simple entire leaves. Seeds arillate. Stamens perigynous. 



1. CLEMATIS, Linn. 



Sepals 4 (sometimes more in foreign species), colored and petal-like, valvate in 



the bud. Petals none or small. Pistils numerous : styles persistent, and (in our 



species) becoming long feathery awns in fruit. Akenes numerous, in a head. — 



Half-woody climbers or perennial herbs, with opposite leaves. 



A genus of about 100 species, belonging to temperate and warm climates of both hemispheres. 

 Many have much beauty, and a few are cultivated for ornament. Our species are long, woody (or 

 half-woody) vines, climbing by the petioles, with compound leaves and showy flowers. 



