56 



NATURAL HISTORY OF TLANTS. 



fleshy aril, 1 contain within their coats a fleshy albumen whose axis 

 is occupied by an often bowed embryo, with its radicle inferior. 

 In the flowers of E. diphylfam? the petals have neither spur nor 



nectariferous pit at the base ; it is on this 

 Epimedia ^^ P7li,llUm) character, 3 of seemingly inconsiderable value 



that the genus Aceranthus* has been founded ; 

 this should in our opinion be restored as a 

 section to the genus Epimedium. 



E. hexandrum h is a North American species, 

 exceptional in the trimerous verticils of its 

 flowers. As all the other characters are gene- 

 rally speaking those of Epimedium it can only 

 be made a distinct section thereof; it has been 

 named Vancouveria.* 



Thus constituted, 7 this genus contains half a score of species, 

 herbaceous perennials with a subterraneous creeping rhizome. The 

 leaves are alternate, pinnately compound, rarely bifoliolate, more 

 frequently bi- or tri-sect. The flowers form terminal or leaf-opposed, 



Fig. 65. 

 Flower (f). 



1 This aril seems to us to be formed by a mere 

 fold of the seminal epidermis. (See Adansonia, 

 ii. 287.) 



2 Lodd., Sot. Cab., t. 1358. 



3 Not to mention that of the leaves, which can 

 have no generic value. The flowers of the other 



Fig. 66. 



species of Epimedium differ in their spurred 

 petals, but this character is insufficient in Aqiri- 

 legia to distinguish more than mere forms or 

 varieties. (See Adansonia, ii. 269.) L. Mab- 

 CHAnd has noticed (in Adansonia, iv. 127) 

 flowers of E. MusscUanum whose petals lacked 

 spurs, and became those of an Aceranthus. This 

 anomaly occurs in many species in our gardens, 

 especially E. niveum, which thus become ace- 

 ranthous (fig. 66). 



4 Moer. & Dcne., in Ann. Sc. Nat., se'r. 2, ii. 

 349, t. 14.— Endl., Gen., n. 4813.— B. H Gen 

 44, n. 12.— Sot. Mag., t. 3448.— Walp.' ReZ 

 i. 101. r ' 



5 Hook., Fl. Sor.-Amer., i. 30, t. 13. 



6 Moee. & Dcne., in Ann. Sc. Nat., ser. 2, ii. 

 351.— Endl., Gen., n. 4812.— B. H., Gen., 44, 

 n. 13. — Waxp., Rep., i. 101. In cultivation we 

 occasionally find Epimedium flowers with five 

 petals (fig. 67), which serve as a passage between 



Fig. 67. 



the dimerous flowers of the rest of the genus 

 and the trimerous flowers of Vancouveria. (See 

 Adansonia, ii. 271.) We also find pentamerous 

 Berberry flowers. (See Adansonia, loc. cit., 

 272.) 



Epimedium. 

 Sect. 5. 



1. Macroceras. 



2. Microceras. 



3. Dimorphophyllum. 



4. Aceranthus. 



5. Vancouveria. 



