RANUNCULACE.E. 45 



Plate 17. 



ZANTHORHIZA, Marshall. 



Calyx 5-sepalus, coloratus, regularis. Petala 5, brevia, 

 glandulaaformia, breviter unguiculata, apice dilatata truncato- 

 biloba. Stamina 5—10. Folliculi 5-10, stylum brevem 

 cito dorsalem gerentes, abortu monospermi. Semen pendu- 

 lum, raphe ventrali. — Suffrutex nanus ; caulibus intus fla- 

 vis ; racemis compositis pendulis, deinde foliis pinnatisectis, 

 e gemma terminali squamosa primo vere erumpentibus. 



Xanthorhiza, Marsh. Arbust. Araer. p. 168. Endl. Gen. 4803. 

 Zanthorhiza, L'Her. Stirp. p. 79. t. 38. Juss. Gen. p. 234. Barton, 



Elem. Bot. t. 12. DC. Syat. 1. p. 386. Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. 



Am. 1. p. 40. 



Shrub Yellow-root. 



Calyx colored (dark and dull purple), imbricated in aesti- 

 vation, regular ; the sepals 5, lanceolate-ovate, acute, spread- 

 ing, deciduous. Petals 5, alternate with the sepals and 

 much smaller than they, hypogynous, gland-like, fleshy, rais- 

 ed on a short claw ; the dilated roundish lamina emarginate- 

 two-lobed, the upper face excavated-glandular. Stamens 5, 

 alternate with the petals, or sometimes 10, hypogynous : 

 filaments short : anthers introrse, the elliptical cells sepa- 

 rated below by the thickened connective, opening longitu- 

 dinally. Pistils 5 to 10, sessile : ovary oblong-ovate, one- 

 celled: style subulate, incurved, stigmatosc down the inner 

 face. Ovules a single pair (rarely more?) borne on the 

 middle of the ventral suture, collateral, anatropous, at first 

 horizontal, soon pendulous, and with the raphes ventral. 



Follicles 5 to 10, oblong, membranaceous, ventricose- 

 compressed, becoming gibbous by unequal growth, in such a 

 manner that the ovuliferous or middle portion of the ventral 

 suture in the ovary becomes the summit of the pod, and 

 the short persistent style, which marks the original apex, 



