RAN UNCI) i.ace.j: 43 



Plate 16. 

 ACONITUM, Town. 



Calyx 5-sepalus, petaloideus, irregularis ; sepalo extimo 

 amplo cassidaeformi, lateralibus orbiculatis, anticis oblongis. 

 Petala 2 superiora longe unguiculata, apice cucullifera, sub 

 casside recondita ; 3 inferiora minima, unguiformia, vel saspe 

 obsoleta. Folliculi 3-5, polyspcrmi. — Folia palinatifida. 



Aconitum, Tourn. Inst. t. 239, 240. Ga-rtn. Fr. t.65. Sclikiilir, Handb. 

 t. 145. DC. Syst. 1. p. 364. Endl. Gen. 4797. 



Mouk's-Iiood. Wolf 's-bane. 



Calyx petaloid, of 5 unequal and irregular sepals, imbri- 

 cated in aestivation, deciduous or marcescent ; the upper one 

 (called the galea) much larger than the others and covering 

 them in the bud, helmet-shaped ; the two lateral broad and 

 rounded ; the two lower smaller and oblong. Petals 2, 

 concealed under the galea, consisting of a very small oblong 

 and emarginate lamina, produced backwards into a short and 

 incurved callous spur, and raised on a very long and slender 

 claw ; the 3 lower minute and resembling sterile filaments, 

 or wanting. Stamens numerous, hypogynous: filaments 

 short, subulate from a membranaceous dilated base, above 

 recurved-spreading : anthers short, innate or slightly in- 

 trorse (extrorse, Ledeb.), the cells opening longitudinally. 

 Pistils 3 to 5, sessile : ovary one-celled, many-ovuled : 

 style subulate : stigma unilateral at the apex, often two- 

 toothed. Ovules indefinite, horizontal in two series, occu- 

 pying the whole length of the ventral suture ; the raphes 

 collateral. 



Follicles sessile, chartaceous or membranaceous, oblong, 

 tipped with the short style, many-seeded, dehiscent down 

 the ventral suture. Seeds horizontal, in two series ; the 

 thickened and spongy testa rugose, often appearing as if 



