CKOWFOOT FAMILY. 41 



11. CALTHA, MARSH MARIGOLD. (A Latin name for the com- 

 mon Marigold. ^ (Lessons, Figs. 325, 392.) TJ. One common spe- 

 cies N. 



C. paliistris, Linn. MARSH MARIGOLD, wrongly called COWSLIP in the 

 country. Stem l-2 high, bearing one or more rounded or somewhat 

 kidney-shaped, entire or crenate leaves, and a few flowers with showy 

 yellow calyx, about H' across ; followed by a cluster of many-seeded 

 pods. Marshes in spring ; young plant boiled for "greens." 



12. TROLLIUS, GLOBEFLOWER. (German: troll, a globe, or 

 something round?) Flower large, like that of Caltha, but the 6-many 

 sepals not spreading except in our wild species ; a row of small nectary- 

 like petals around the stamens, and the leaves deeply palmately cleft or 

 parted. ^ Flowers spring. 



T. laxus, Salisb. WILD G. Sepals only 5 or 6, spreading wide open, 

 yellowish or dull greenish-white ; petals very small, seeming like abor- 

 tive stamens. Swamps, N. H. to Del. and Mich. Also W. 



T. Europceus, Linn. EUROPEAN G, Sepals bright yellow (10-20), or 

 white, broad, and converging into a kind of globe, the flower appearing 

 as if semi-double ; petals equaling the stamens. Eu. 



T. Asi&ticus, Linn. ASIATIC G. Like the last, but flower rather more 

 open, and deep orange, yellow, or white ; the petals longer than stamens. 

 Siberia. 



13. HELLEBORUS, HELLEBORE. (Old Greek name of unknown 

 meaning.) TJ. Sepals 5, persistent, enlarging, and becoming green after 

 flowering. European plants, with pretty, large flowers, in early spring. 



H. viridis, Linn. GREEK H., has stems near 1 high, bearing 1 or 2 

 leaves and 2 or 3 pale yellowish-green flowers ; run wild in a few places E. 



H. nlger, Linn. BLACK H., the flower called CHRISTMAS ROSE (because 

 flowering in warmer parts of England in winter), has single large flowers 

 (2'-3' across, white, turning pinkish, then green), on scapes shorter than 

 the shining evergreen leaves in earliest spring. Garden varieties are more 

 commonly cult, than the species. 



14. COPTIS, GOLDTHREAD. (Greek : to cut, from divided leaves.) 

 1J. Sepals &-7, deciduous. The only common species is 



C. trif61ia, Salisb. THREE-LEAVED G. A delicate little plant in bogs 

 and damp cold woods N., sending up early in spring single white flowers 

 (smaller than those of Wood Anemone) on slender scapes, followed by 

 slender-stalked leaves of three wedge-shaped leaflets ; these become 

 bright-shining in summer, and last over winter. The long, slender, bright 

 yellow, underground stems are used as a popular medicine. 



15. NIGELLA, FENNEL FLOWER. (Name from the black seeds.) 

 (D Garden plants from Eu. and Orient; stems leafy; the 5 ovaries 

 united below into one 5-styled pod. Seeds large, blackish, spicy. One 

 species has been used as a substitute for spice or pepper. 



N. Damascene, Linn. COMMON F. or RAGGED LADY. LOVE-IN-A- 

 MIST. Flower bluish, rather large, surrounded and overtopped by a 

 finely divided, leafy involucre, like the other leaves; succeeded by a 

 smooth, inflated, 5- celled pod in which the lining of the cells separates 

 from the outer part. 



