Genus 3. 



CROWFOOT FAMILY. 



I. Trollius laxus Salisb. American Globe- 

 flower. Fig. 1856. 



Trollius americanus Muhl. Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. 3: 



172, name only. 1791. 

 Trollius laxus Salisb. Trans. Linn. Soc. 8: 303. 1803. 



Stems slender, weak, ascending, i°-2° long. 

 Leaves all but the upper petioled (the lower peti- 

 oles sometimes a foot long), palmately S-7-parted, 

 2-4' wide, the segments obovate, cuneate, lobed, cleft 

 or toothed; flowers generally solitary, iV broad; 

 sepals 5-7, ovate or obovate, obtuse, yellowish-green, 

 spreading; petals 15-25, minute, much shorter than 

 the numerous stamens; filaments filiform; anthers 

 linear, i" long; head of fruit nearly an inch broad, 

 the follicles 4" long, each tipped with a straight 

 subulate beak of one-fourth its length. 



In swamps, New Hampshire (?), Connecticut to Dela- 

 ware, west to Michigan. May-July. 



T. albiflorus (A. Gray) Rydb., of the Rocky Mountain 

 region, differs in having white sepals. 



4. HELLEBORUS [Tourn.] L. Sp. PL 557. 1753. 

 Erect perennial herbs, with large palmately divided leaves, the basal long-petioled the 

 upper sessile and sometimes reduced to bracts. Flowers large, white, greenish or yellowish 

 Sepals 5, broad, petaloid, mainly persistent. Petals 8-10, small, unguiculate, tubular. Sta- 

 mens 00. Carpels generally few, sessile, in fruit forming several-seeded capsules, which 

 are dehiscent at the apex at maturity. [The classical name for H. oricntalis; derivation 

 unknown.] 



A genus of coarse herbs, comprising about 15 species, natives of Europe and western Asia 

 1 ype species ; Helleborus niger L. 



I. Helleborus viridis L. Green Helle- 

 bore. Fig. 1857. 



Helleborus viridis L. Sp. PI. 558. 1753. 



Stout, erect, i°-2° high, glabrous. Basal 

 leaves 8'-i2' broad, on petioles 6'-io' long, 

 palmately divided into 7-1 1 oblong acute 

 sharply serrate segments 3'-4' long; stem 

 hardly exceeding the basal leaves, and bearing 

 several sessile similar leaves near the top 

 subtending the large drooping yellowish-green 

 flowers ; sepals broadly oblong, obtuse, spread- 

 ing, about i' long; petals tubular, 2-lipped, 2" 

 long; stamens widened; anthers oblong, ob- 

 tuse; pods 8" long, tipped with a slender beak 

 one-third their length or longer. 



In waste places, locally adventive from Europe 

 in New Yorl<. New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West 

 Virginia. Christmas-rose [properly H. niger], 

 Chris-root. May. 



5. ERANTHIS Salisb. Trans. Linn. 

 Soc. 8: 303. 1803. 

 [Cammarum Hill, Brit. Herb. 47, pi 7. Hyponym. 1756.] 

 Low herbs, with perennial tuberiferous rootstocks. Basal leaves palmately dissected. 

 Cauline leaf one, borne near the summit of the stem, sessile or amplexicaul, immediately 

 subtending the large yellow flower. Sepals 5-8, narrow, petaloid, deciduous. Petals, small 

 two-lipped nectaries. Stamens numerous. Carpels commonly few, stipitate, many-ovuled, 

 in fruit forming a head of follicles. [Greek, flower of spring.] 



A genus of about 5 species, natives of Europe and the mountains of Asia, the following typical. 



