RANUNCULACE;E. 37 



Plate 13. 



COPTIS, Salisb. 



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



tala totidem, unguiculata ; apice lamina glandulaeformia dila- 



tato-cucullata, nunc caudato-appendiculata. Folliculi 3 - 10, 



longe stipitati, stellato-patentes, oligospermi. — Acaulescen- 



tes, foliis trifoliolatis ternatiinve compositis, scapoque nudo 



uni-paucifloro, e rhizomate flagelliformi fibrilloso. 



Coptis, Salisb. in Linn. Trans. 8. p. 305. DC. Syst. 1. p. 321. Torr. 



& Gr. Fl. N. Am. 1. p. 28. Endl. Gen. 4792. 

 Hellebori Sp., Linn. Amcen. 2. p. 355. t. 4. etc. 

 Chryza, Raf. in Desv. Jour. Bot. 2. p. 170, & New York Med. Rep. 

 Coptis, Chrysocoptis, & Pterophyllcm, NutU 



Gold-thread. 



Calyx petaloid (white or greenish-white), regular, imbri- 

 cated in aestivation : sepals ovate-oblong or linear, spread- 

 ing, or at length rerlexed, early deciduous. Petals as many 

 as the sepals and alternate with them, hypogynous, unguic- 

 ulate, equalling or shorter than the stamens ; the gland-like 

 apex thickened, cucullate-dilated and inappendiculate, or 

 produced into a filiform caudate appendage much exceeding 

 the stamens. Stamens 13 to 30, shorter than the sepals, 

 hypogynous : filaments filiform : anthers oval, innate, the 

 cells opening longitudinally. Pistils 3 to 10, verticillate, at 

 first short-stipitate or almost sessile and erect, but spreading 

 and the stipe elongating after fecundation : ovary one-cell- 

 ed, several-ovuled, pointed with a short and often recurved 

 style, which is stigmatose down the inner face. Ovules 10 to 

 24, anatropous, horizontal in two series ; the raphes collateral. 



Follicles 3 to 10, ovate or oblong, raised on slender 

 stipes, membranaceous, few- (4- 10-) seeded. Seeds small, 

 horizontal, oval ; the smooth and shining testa conformed or 

 nearly so to the nucleus. Embryo minute, at the base of 

 the albumen, cordate ; the radicle next the hilum. 



