RANUNCULACE^E. 35 



f LATE 12. 



ISOPYRUM, L. 



Calyx 5 - 6-sepalus, petaloideus, regularis, deciduus. Pe- 

 tala 5, brevissima, nectariformia, basifixa, seu nulla. Folli- 

 culi sessiles, 2 — 20, raembranacei, compressi, oligo-polysper- 

 mi. — Folia ternatim composita, Thalictri facie. 



Isopyrdm, Linn. Juss. Gen. p. 232. GsErtn. Fr. t. 65. Scbkubr, Handb. 

 t. 153. DC. Syst. 1. p. 323. Ledeb. Fl. Alt. 2. p. 298. Torr. 

 &Gray, FI. N. Am. I. p. C60. 



Subgen. Enemion. — Petala nulla. Ovula pauca, 1-seriata. 



Enemion, Raf. in Jour. Pliys. 91. p. 70. Torr. & Gray, 1. c. p. 29. Endl. 

 Gen. 848. 



Calyx petaloid, regular, imbricated in aestivation : sepals 

 5, sometimes 6, spreading, ovate, deciduous. Petals, in 

 species of the Old World, very short and tubular, 1-2-lip- 

 ped, in the North American none. Stamens numerous, hy- 

 pogynous: filaments filiform or flattened : anthers innate, 

 the oblong cells opening on the margins longitudinally. 

 Pistils few or several ; sessile on the globular receptacle : 

 ovary one-celled, pointed with the distinct style, which is 

 stigmatose from the apex down the inner side. Ovules 

 anatropous, few (3 to 10) in a single series and more or less 

 ascending, or numerous in two rows and horizontal, with 

 the raphes collateral. 



Follicles 3 to 20 (rarely solitary), membranaceous, veiny 

 or reticulated, more or less compressed, beaked with the sub- 

 ulate style, dehiscent through the ventral suture. Seeds 

 few or numerous, mostly horizontal ; the testa crustaceous, 

 smooth or minutely pubescent, or sometimes granulate-sca- 

 brous. Embryo minute, next the hilum, at the base of the 

 fleshy albumen. 



Herbs of small size, with fibrous, and sometimes grumous 

 roots, slender stems, and ternately-compound alternate leaves. 



