10 RANUNCULACE^. Anemone. 



Plant about a foot and a half high, usually growing in patches. Rhizoma creeping, some- 

 what ligneous. Petioles 8-12 inches long. Leaves 4-6 inches or more in diameter. 

 Flowers 1 - ij inch in diameter. Sepals white and membranaceous, pubescent externally. 

 Style much longer than the ovary or even the ripe carpels. 



Banks of rivers and rather wet meadows ; not uncommon. June - August. Fr. Septem- 

 ber. Our plant seems to agree in ever}' essential character with tlie Siberian A. dichotoma. 



3. HEPATICA. Dill. ; DC. syst. I. p. 215 ; Endl. gen. 4T74. liverleat. 



[From the Gieek, hepar, the liver; the 3-Iobed leaves resembling the liver of some animals.] 

 Involucre very near the flower, and resembling a calyx of three sepals. Sepals (resembling 

 petals) 6-9, arranged in two or three rows. Petals none. Carpels without tails. — Leaves 

 radical, 3-lobed. Involucre one-flowered. 



I. Hepatica triloba, Cliaix. Common Liver-leaf. 



Leaves broadly cordate, 3 - 5-lobed, tlie lobes entire. — DC.prodr. 1. p. 22; Pursh, fl. 2. 

 p. 391 ; Hook. fl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 8; Darlingt. fl. Cest. p. 331 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. 1. p. 15. 

 Anemone Hepatica, Linn. ; Michx.fl. I. p. 319; Pritz. I. c.p. 690. 



var. 1. obtusa : leaves 3-lobed ; lobes roundish, obtuse. — Pursh, I. c. ; Torr. ^- Gr. 1. c. 

 H. Americana, Ker, in hot. reg. t. 387 ; DC. I. c. 



var. 2. acuta : leaves 3 - 5-lobed ; lobes acute, spreading. — Pursh, 1. c. ; Torr. <^ Gr. I. c. 

 H. acutiloba, DC. I. c. 



Root consisting of coarse fibres. Leaves somewhat coriaceous, unsually remaining through 

 the winter till the following season ; the older ones purplish underneath. Petioles and scapes 

 villous, 3-6 inches long, the latter appearing before the vernal leaves, sheathed at the base 

 with oblong imbricated stipules. Involucral leaves ovate, villous externally. Sepals oblong, 

 obtuse, usually blue, but sometimes pale purple or white. Carpels oblong, acuminate, 

 hairy. 



A very common plant in woods, flowering frequently in the latter part of March, and con- 

 tinuing till May. The acute-leaved variety is more common in the northern and western 

 counties than in the southern part of the State ; but I have seen this form, when transplanted 

 into gardens, produce part of its leaves with obtuse lobes. In their native woods the two 

 varieties remain distinct, and seldom grow near each other. 



This plant has for a number of years past been employed as a remedy in pulmonary dis- 

 eases, but it is of verj' doubtful efficacy. See Wood 4- Bache's U. S. Dispens. p. 347. 



