10 



RANUNCULACE^-. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 



ovulcd. Style subulate. Follicles sessile, short-pointed. Seeds in two rows, 

 horizontal. — Erect herbs, with alternate petioled and palmately divided leaves, 

 and showy flowers in terminal racemes or panicles. 



1 . D. azureum, Michx. Stem mostly simple, downy ; leaves 3 - 5-parted, 

 the divisions cleft into 3 - 5-linear, toothed or entire, acute lobes ; racemes many- 

 flowered ; pedicels and follicles erect ; spur slightly curved, twice as long as the 

 calyx. (D. virescens, Nuit., with wider-lobed leaves, and larger greenish flow- 

 ers.) — Rich soil, Florida and northward. May. U- — Stems I°-2° high. 

 Leaves 2'-3' wide. Sepals sky-blue, or sometimes whitish, tipped with brown. 

 Lower petals 2-cleft, bearded. 



2. D. tricorne, Michx. Stem simple, downy ; leaves as in No. 1 ; ra- 

 ceme few-flowered ; pedicels and follicles diverging ; spur straight, as long as 

 the calyx. — Mountains of North Carolina and northward. April and May. !(.. 

 — Root tuberous. Stems 1° high. Raceme 6 - 1 2-flowered. Sepals blue. 

 Lower petals 2-cleft and bearded. 



3. D. exaltatum, Ait. Stem tall, branching and haiiy above; leaves 

 large, the lower 3 - 5-parted, the divisions cleft into 2 - 3-lanceolate or oblong 

 coarsely-toothed lobes, the upper 3-parted with sparingly toothed or entire lobes ; 

 racemes many-flowered ; pedicels diverging ; follicles erect ; spur straight, rather 

 longer than the calyx. — Mountains of North Carolina and northward. June - 

 August. IJ.. — Stem 2° -4° high. Leaves 4'- 6' wide. Sepals blue. Lower 

 petals 2-cleft and bearded, brownish. 



D. CoNSOLiDA, L., the common annual Larkspur of the gardens, is becom- 

 ing naturalized in some places. 



13. ACONITUM, L. Monkshood. Wolfsbane. 



Sepals 5, irregular, colored, imbricated in the bud, deciduous ; the outermost 

 large and helmet-shaped, the two lateral rounded, the lower smaller and oblong. 

 Petals 2 or ,5, the two upper long-stalked, produced backward into a short in- 

 curved spur, the three lower minute or wanting. Stamens numerous ; filaments 

 short, subulate. Ovaries 3-5, 1 -celled, many-ovuled. Style subulate. Follicles 

 sessile, short pointed. Seed horizontal, rugose. — Erect or trailing, perennial 

 herbs, with alternate, palmately divided leaves, and showy flowers in terminal 

 racemes or panicles. 



1. A. UUCinatum, L. Stem smooth, vine-like, erect; leaves 3-5-cleft, 

 with the lobes ovate-lanceolate, coarsely toothed ; raceme few-flowered ; flowers 

 large, blue ; upper sepal helmet-shaped. — Shady banks of streams among the 

 mountains and northward, rare. June and July. — Stem 2° - 6° long. Leaves 

 rather rigid. 



2. A. reelinatum, Gray. Stem smooth, reclining ; leaves deeply 3-7- 

 cleft ; the lobes cuneate, acutely toothed ; racemes numerous, few - many-flow- 

 ered, flowers white ; upper sepal elongated -conical, soon becoming horizontal. — 

 High mountains of North Carolina. July and August. — Stems 4° - 8° long. 

 Leaves thin. 



