AcoNiTUM. RANUNCULACE^. 21 



1. AcoNiTUM UNCINATUM, Linn. American Moonlislwod. 



Panicle rather loosely flowered, with diverging branches ; galea obtusely conic, compressed, 

 with an obtuse beak; spur thick, inclined; leaves deeply 3-lobed. — Michx. fl. 1. p. 315; 

 Bot. mag. f. 1119 ; DC. ■prodr. I. p. GO ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 20 ; Torr. ^. Gr.fl. N. Am. 1. p. 34. 



Root tuberous. Stem ilexuous, slender, 2-5 feet long, often reclining. Leaves 3-5 

 inches in diameter, 3 - 5-parted, the segments laciniately and mucronately toothed. Flowers 

 as large as in A. Napdlus, bright blue. Ovaries 3-5, villous. 



In wet places on mountains, Chenango county {Major J. LeConte : v. s. in herh. LeConte). 

 No other botanist has found this plant vpithin the limits of our State. Dr. Knieskern lately 

 searched for it in Chenango county, but without success. 



Tribe IV. CIMICIFUGEjE. Torr. ^ Gr. 



Sepals petaloid. Petals {dilated sterile filaments or staminodia ?) 3-6. Anthers introrse 

 or innate. Carpels few, sometimes solitary, rarely numerous, follicular or baccate, 

 sometimes indehiscent and one-seeded. Flowers by aboi'tion occasionally diclinous. 



12. ACT.(EA. Linn. ; Endl. gen. 4799. baneberry. 



[Name from the Greek, dkU:, elder; which this genus resembles in its foliage.] 



Sepals 4-5. Petals (or staminodia) 4-8, spatulate. Stamens numerous : anthers in- 

 trorse. Stigma capitate, sessile. Carpels solitary, baccate, many-seeded. Seeds com- 

 pressed, smooth, horizontal. — Perennial herbs. Leaves bi-triternately divided ; segments 

 ineisely serrate. Flowers in simple racemes, white. 



1. AcT^A RUBRA, Bigel. White Colwsk. 



Raceme ovate ; pedicels longer than the flower, scarcely any thicker in fruit ; petals rhombic- 

 ovate, acute, shorter than the stamens ; fruit nearly ovoid, (red.) — Bigel. fl. Bost. p.2\\ ; 

 Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 27 ; Torr. <^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 35. A. Americana, var. rubra, 

 Pursh, fl. 2. p. 366. A. brachypetala, var. rubra, DC. j^rodr. 1. p. 65. A. spicata, var. 

 rubra, Michx. fl. l.p. 308. 



Stem li-2 feet high, slender, smooth. Leaves ternately decompound; leaflets ovate, 

 acuminate, 1-2 inches long, unequally and ineisely serrate ; the terminal one often 3-clcft. 

 Raceme 20 - 40-flowered, broadly ovate or hemispherical. Sepals 4, greenish, ovate. Pe- 

 tals sometimes 8 - 10, minute. Berries bright cherry red, tlie size of a large pea, about 

 16-seeded ; tlie pedicels half an inch long, and not one-fourtli as thick as the peduncle, at 

 length spreading horizontally. 



Rocky woods ; not rare. Fl. May. Fr. August - September. 



