186 



I. RANUNCULACE.E. 



decompound. Flowers small, in short racemes that lengthen after flowering. Stamens longer 

 than the sepals. Stigma sessile, dilated. Europe, Asia, North America. 



wBSSi 



o*ff^2& 



w fiJr<\*7iQ_QO 



Actcea. 

 Flower cut vertically (mg.) 



l ' i, Aftita. Ail,',/. 



Stamen (mag.). Seed, entire and cut vertically (mug.). Fruit (mug.). 



27. Cimicifuga. Sepals 4-5, subequal, petaloid, 

 deciduous. Petals 18, small, clawed, 2-lobed, or 0. 

 Carpels 1-8, distinct, many-ovuled, follicular when ripe. 

 Herbs, habit and foliage of Actcea. Flowers small, very 

 numerous, in elongated racemes. Europe, Asia, North 

 America. 



28. *Botrophis. Sepals 4-5, petaloid^ equal. Petals 

 0. Outer stamens dilated, terminated by an imperfect 

 anther. Carpel solitary, 1-celled; ovules 2-seriate. Follicle 

 substipitate. Herbs, leaves 2-3-sect, segments incised, 

 toothed. Flowers racemose, white. North America. 



29. Xanthorhiza. Sepals 5, subequal, petaloid, de- 

 ciduous. Petals 5, small, clawed, gland-like, dilated at 

 the top. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals, or 10. 



Act<ea tpicata. Carpels 5-10, distinct, sessile, 2-ovuled on the middle of 



the inner suture, opening in follicles when ripe, and 



one-seeded by suppression. Seed pendulous. Shrubs or under-shrubs, dwarf ; stem yellow 

 within. Leaves pinuatisect, proceeding in early spring from a scaly bud. Racemes com- 

 pound, pendulous. Flowers small, blackish-purple, often polygamous. Stamens short. 

 North America. 



Tribe V. P.EONIE.E, D.C. 



30. *PsBOnia. Sepals 5, imbricate, herbaceous, persistent. Petals 5-10, conspicuous, 

 broad, without a nectariferous pit. Carpels 2-5, many-ovuled, girt at the base with a fleshy 

 disk, which is often spread over the base of the calyx, or forms an irregular cup more or less 

 enveloping the ovaries. Fruit of coriaceous follicles. Seeds large, albumen fleshy. Herbs 

 with perennial fusiform rootstock, or with branching, more or less woody stems. Leaves 



