RANUNCULACE/E. 23 



Plate 6. 

 THALICTRUM, Tourn. 



Calyx 4 — 7-sepalus, a^stivatione imbricatus. Petala nulla. 

 Achenia 3 — 15, ecaudata, plurisulcata seu vesiculoso-inflata : 

 stigma pleriuntme sessili. (Semen suspensum.) — Flores 

 ssepe polygamo-dioici. Involucrum nullum, aut (in T. ane- 

 monoide solum) foliiforme, a floribus remotum. 



Thalictrdm, Linn. Gen. 697. DC. Syst. 1. p. 168. Endl. Gen. 4772. 

 Ruc-Ancnioue. Mcadow-Ruc. 



Calyx of 4 or 5, rarely (in T. anemonoides) 7 to 10, peta- 

 loid sepals, imbricated in a?stivation, spreading or reflexed, 

 caducous or deciduous. Petals none. Stamens indefi- 

 nite, hypogynous : filaments capillary, filiform, clavate, or 

 petaloid-dilated : anthers fixed by the base, strictly innate, 

 various in form ; the cells opening longitudinally. Pistils 

 3 to 15, crowded on the small receptacle : ovary one-celled, 

 one-ovuled : stigma usually sessile. Ovule suspended, ana- 

 tropous ; the raphe dorsal. 



Achenia sessile or stipitate, longitudinally sulcate or 

 many-angled, or inflated (in § Tripterium alate-triquetrous), 

 pointed by the persistent stigma or its base. Albumen be- 

 tween fleshy and corneous. Embryo minute, next the 

 hilum : radicle superior. 



Herbs, with perennial, usually fibrose roots, erect stems, 

 and ternately-compound or supradecompound leaves ; the 

 petioles and their branches often auriculate-dilated at the 

 base : leaflets falling away separately by an articulation. 

 Involucre none (the cauline leaves alternate), except in T. 

 anemonoides. Flowers usually small, in compound pani- 

 cles or corymbs, rarely racemose or umbellate, greenish, yel- 

 lowish, or white, seldom purplish, often dicecio-polygamous. 



