46 RANUNCULACE.E. 



becomes deeply dorsal : ventral suture tardily dehiscent. 

 Seed solitary (by the abortion of one of the ovules), pendu- 

 lous from the apparent summit of the pod, scarcely one 

 fourth its length, oblong-obovate, smooth and even, marked 

 with a narrow ventral raphe. Albumen fleshy. Embryo 

 minute ; the radicle next the hilum. 



Shrub low, with long yellow roots and creeping root- 

 stocks, sending up simple or sparingly branched woody 

 shoots (one or two feet in height), which are strongly mark- 

 ed with half-annular scars left from the dilated bases of the 

 fallen (alternate) leaves, terminated by a kind of scaly bud ; 

 from which arise, in early spring, the panicled or compound 

 slender and drooping racemes, and the pinnately 3-7-folio- 

 late leaves ; the former a little precocious, and occupying the 

 base of the branch of the season. Leaflets membranaceous, 

 sessile, ovate or oblong, incised and toothed, often 2 - 3-cleft 

 or parted. Flowers small, numerous, dark purple, sometimes 

 polygamous. Bracts and bractlets subulate, minute. 



Etymology and Properties. Name compounded of gavdos, yrlfow, and 

 pi'fa, root ; in allusion to the color of the roots, which, as also the inner 

 bark, wood, and pith, are pervaded with a bright yellow coloring matter, 

 said to have been employed by the aborigines as a dye : it is intensely bitter, 

 and has been used as a tonic. 



Geographical Distribution. The single species of the genus belongs 

 to the United States alone, and chiefly to the vicinity of the Alleghany 

 Mountains, growing on rocky and shaded banks along streams. 



PLATE 17. Zanthoriiiza apiifolia, L'Her. ; — the summit of a flower- 

 ing stem ; of the natural size. (Botanic Garden, Cambridge.) 



1. A flower, enlarged. 



2. A petal, magnified; back view. 



3. Same, seen from above. 



4. A stamen, magnified ; inside view. 



5. The pistils, magnified. 



6. Vertical section of one of them, showing the ovules. 



7. Vertical section of a fertilized ovary, magnified. 



8. The ripe follicles, thrice the natural size. 



9. Vertical section of a follicle, magnified, showing the single seed. 



10. Seed, more magnified. 



11. Vertical section of the same, showing the embryo. 



