POLYANDRIA— POLYGYNIA. Thalictruni, 41 



wedge-shaped veiny leaflets convex, dark green, and shining 

 above ; glaucous and concave beneath, Stipulas oblong, mem- 

 branous, united to tlie base of the footstalks at each side. Fl. 

 drooping when fully expanded. Bracteas small, solitary under 

 each partial stalk. Pet. 4, whitish, acute, Stam. 8 or 10, ca- 

 pillary. Anth. oblong, tawny. Germ, seldom more than 4. 

 Seeds smooth, and nearly even. 

 Haller under his n. 11 40, T.fcetidum, mentions this as a probable 

 variety of that species, found in Switzerland. But if he had seen 

 our plant, he could never have confounded it with any variety of 

 fcetidum; nor did the Swiss botanists, with whom 1 have com- 

 municated, ever meet with the alpinum. 



2. T. minus. Lesser Meadow-rue. 



Leaves doubly pinnate; leaflets ternate, three-cleft, glau- 

 cous on both sides. Flowers panicled, pendulous. Stem 

 zigzag. Stipulas rounded. 



T. ramus. Linn. Sp. PI. 769. TVilld.v.2.\297. Fl.Br.584. Engl. 



Bot. v.l. t. II. Rail Syn. 203. Ger. Em. 1251./. Hook. 



Scot. 1 72. DcCand. Syst. v.).\78. Dad. Pempt. 58./, Fl. 



Dan. t. 732. Jacq. Austr. t.A\9. 

 T. n. 1139. Hall. Hist. V. 2. 57. 

 T. Cordi tenuifolium. Lob. Ic. v. 2. 56./. 



/3. T. montanum minus, foliis latioribus. RaiiSyn 204. 



In chalky pastures, especially such as are rather mountainous 3 or 

 in shell sand on the sea coast. 



Perennial, June, July. 



Root creeping. Stem from 4 to 12 inches high, branched, leafy, 

 glaucous, smooth, somewhat angular, more or less zigzag in the 

 lower part, often remarkably so. Leaves doubly pinnate, then ter- 

 nate ; leaflets various in figure and size ; broadly heart-shaped, as 

 in variety /3, or wedge-shaped as in Engl. Bot.; glaucous on both 

 sides, smooth, notched or lobed in the fore part. Footstalks an- 

 gular, smooth ; the common one short, broad, channelled above, 

 strongly furrowed beneath. Stipulas interior, simple, clasping 

 the stem, short, broad, rounded, glaucous, purplish, jagged or 

 fringed at the edge. Panicles compound, spreading, accompa- 

 nied at the base by a few ternate, or slightly pinnate, leaves. 

 Bracteas few, small, lanceolate, FL drooping, or pendulous, on 

 slender stalks. Pet. 4, pale purple, with white edges. Seeds 

 furrowed. 



Such is our British plant. The Swedish specimens of Linnaeus are 

 much larger, like those of Villars fromDauphiny ; but both an* 

 swer to the above characters, especially in the stipulas. I have 

 not seen the ripe seeds, which, according to DeCandolle, are 

 acute at both ends. 



