148 I, RANUNCULACE^E. HYDRASTIS. 



barren flowers with numerous slender filaments and yellow anthers, the fertile 

 ones smaller, with shorter stamens. Fruit oval, striate. May. 



2. T. CORNUTI. (T. Corynellum. DC.} Meadow Rue. 



Lifts, obtusely 3-looed, paler underneath ; fls. 9 cT 5 filaments elavate ; fr. 

 sessile, striate. A handsome herbaceous plant, common in meadows. Stem 

 3- 4f high, smooth, hollow, jointed, furrowed. Leaves resembling those of the 

 columbine (Aquilegia), green above, smooth, several times compounded. 

 Leaflets 1 2' long, f as wide. Petioles sheathing at base. Panicles large 

 and diffuse. The barren flowers have numerous club-shaped stamens, with 

 oblong yellow anthers. Fertile flowers smaller and less crowded. Jn. JL 



3. T. ANEMONolDEs. Michs. (Anemone thalictroides. Linn.} Rue Ane- 

 mone. 



Floral Ivs. petiolate, simple, whorled, resembling an involucrum ; radical 

 te. biternate ; fls. umbeled. Woods and pastures, Northern, Middle, and West- 

 ern States. The root of this little herbaceous plant consists of several oblong 

 tubercles. Stem erect, 6 8' high, slender, bearing several white flowers at top 

 in a sort of umbel. Leaves \ V long, as wide, cordate at base, 3-lobed, on 

 petioles f \\' long; radical common petioles 2 4' long. Apr. May. 



18. MYOSURUS. Dill. 

 Gr. [ivs, [ivos, mouse, ovpa, tail ; alluding to the long spike of carpels. 



Sepals 5, produced downwards at base below their insertion; 

 petals 5, with slender, tubular claws ; stamens 5 20 ; achenia very 

 closely spicate on the elongated torus. Lvs. linear, entire, radical. 

 Scapes \-flowered. 



M. MINTMUS. (M. Shortii. Raj.} Mouse-tail. 



Prairies and bottoms, 111., Mead! to La. and Oreg., Nuttall. A diminutive 

 plant, remarkable for its little terete spikelet of fruit, which is often an inch 

 long. Leaves 1 3' long, 1 2" wide. Scapp a little taller, with a single 

 minute pale-yellow flower at top. Apr. 



19. ZANTHORHlZA. 



Gr. av$o$, yellow, pia, root. 



Sepals 5 ; petals 5, of 2 roundish lobes, raised on a pedicel ; sta- 

 mens 5 10; ovaries 5 10, beaked with the styles, 2 3-ovuled ; 

 follicles mostly 1 -seeded, seed suspended. Sujfruticose ; st. and bark 

 yellow and bitter. Lvs. pinnately divided. Rac. axillary, compound, 

 Fls. small, dark purple, often 9 $ cT- 



Z. APIIFOLIA. L'Her. (Z. simplicissima. Michx.} 



River banks, Penn. to Ga. Root thick. Stem short, woody, leafy above. 

 Leaves -glabrous, about 8 X long, including the long petioles. Leaflets 5, 2- 3' 

 long, sessile, incisely lobed and dentate. Racemes many-flowered, appearing 

 with the leaves. Follicles spreading, 1J" long. March, April. 



20. HYDRASTIS. 



Gr, vJcop. water ; the plant grows in watery places. 



Sepals 3, ovate, petaloid, equal ; corolla ; stamens 00, a little 

 shorter than the sepals ; baccate fruit composed of numerous, aggre- 

 gate, 1 -seeded acines. ^with 2 Ivs. a?id \flower. 



H. CANADENSIS. Turmeric-root. 



The only species. It grows in bog meadows, Can. to Car. and Ky. ! Rare. 

 Root of a deep yellow color internally. Stem 69' high, becoming purplish, 

 hairy above. Leaves. 2 only, alternate, on the upper part of the stem, petiolate, 

 emarginate at base, palmate, with 3^-5 lobes. Peduncle terminal, solitary, 

 1-flowered. Sepals reddish white, of short duration. Fruit red, juicy, resem- 

 bling the raspberry. Seeds nearly black. May, Jn. 



