156 XI. PAPAVERACE^E. MECONOPSIS. 



longer ; stamens 00 ; stigma 1 2-lobed, sessile ; capsule pod-like, 

 oblong, 1 -celled, 2-valved, acute at each end, many-seeded. 1\. Juice 

 orange red. 



S. CANADENSIS. Blood-root. 



An interesting flower of woods, groves, &c., appearing in early spring. 

 Rhizoma fleshy, tuberous, and when broken or bruised exudes a blood-colored 

 fluid, as also does every other part of the plant. From each bud of the root- 

 stalk there springs a single large, glaucous leaf, and a scape about 6' high, with 

 a single flower. Whole plant glabrous. Leaf kidney-shaped, with roundish 

 lobes separated by rounded sinuses. Flower of a quadrangular outline, white, 

 scentless, and of short duration. The juice is emetic and purgative. Apr. May. 



2. CHELIDONIUM. 



[its departure. 

 Gr. Xe\iiuv, the swallow; being supposed to flower with the arrival of that bird, and to perish with 



Sepals 2, suborbicular ; petals 4, suborbicular, contracted at base ; 

 stamens 24 32, shorter than the petals; stigma 1, small, sessile, 

 bifid ; capsule silique-form, linear, 2-valved, 1 -celled ; seeds crested. 

 1[. with yellow juice. 



C. MA jus. Celandine. 



Livs. pinnate ; Ifts. lobed, segments rounded ; fls. in umbels. A pale green, 

 fleshy herb found under fences, by road-sides, &c., arising 1 2f high. Leaves 

 smooth, glaucous, spreading, consisting of 2 4 pairs of leaflets with an odd 

 one. Leaflets 1J 2j' long, f as broad, irregularly dentate and lobed, the par- 

 tial stalks winged at base. Umbels thin, axillary, pedunculate. Petals ellip- 

 tical, entire, yellow, and very fugacious, like every other part of the flower. 

 The abundant bright yellow juice is used to cure itch and destroy warts. 

 May. Oct. 



3. ARGEMONE. 



Gr. apyefjia, a disease of the eye, which this plant was supposed to cure. 



Sepals 3, roundish, acuminate, caducous ; petals 6, roundish, 

 larger than the sepals ; stamens 00, as short as the calyx ; stigma 

 sessile, capitate, 6-lobed ; capsule obovoid, opening at the top by 

 valves. Herbs with yellow juice. 



A. MEXICANA. Horn Poppy. 



Las. repand-sinuate or pinnatifid, with spiny teeth ; /. solitary, erect, 

 axillary ; cal. prickly ; caps, prickly, 6-valved. A weed-like plant, native at the 

 south and west, at the north. Stem 2 3f high, branching, armed with 

 prickly spines. Leaves 5 7' or 8' long, sessile, spinose on the margin and 

 veins beneath. Flowers axillary and terminal, on short peduncles, about 2' 

 diam., yellow. The juice becomes in air a fine gamboge-yellow, and is 

 esteemed for jaundice, cutaneous eruptions, sore eyes, fluxes, &c. July. 

 0. Fls. ochroleucous. y. Fls. larger, white. 



4. MECONOPSIS. Viguier. 

 Gr. prjKUv, a poppy; ot//tf, resemblance. 



Sepals 2 ; petals 4 ; stamens 00 ; style distinct ; stigmas 4 6, 

 radiating, convex, free ; capsule obovate, 1 -celled, opening by 4 valves 

 at apex. ^Herbs with a yellow juice. 



M. DIPHYLLA. DC. (Chelidonium. Michx. Stylophorum. Nutt.) 

 las. pinnately divided, glaucous beneath, segments 5 7, ovate-oblong, 

 sinuate, cauline 2, opposite, petiolate ; ped. aggregated, terminal ; caps. 4-valved, 

 echinate-setose. Woods, Western States ! Plant 12 18' high. Leaves large, 

 8' by 6', on petioles about the same length ; terminal segments somewhat con- 

 fluent. Peduncle about 3' long. Petals deep yellow. May. 



