208 Obdbr 1.— RANUNCULACE^. 



flowers. It is well distinguished from R. aoria by its reflexed sepals and its fiir- 

 rowed peduncles. The lobes of the root-leaves are also rounded rather than 

 acute at apex. May, Jn. § Bur. 



8. MYOSORUS, Dill. Mouse-tail. Fig. 286, 287. (Gr. jiv^, 

 Hvbg, mouse, ovpa, tail; alluding to the long spike of carpels.) Sepals 

 5, produced downwards at base below their insertions ;. petals 5, with 

 slender, tubular claws: stamens 5 — 20; achenia very closely spicate on 

 the elongated torus. — ® Lvs. linear, entire, radical. Scapes 1-flowered. 

 1 M. minimus L. Prairies and bottoms, 111. to La. and Oreg. A diminutive 



plant, remarkable for its little terete spikelet of fruit, which is often more than 

 an incli long. Lvs. 1 — 3' long and 1 — 2" wide. Scape a little taller, with a 

 single minute, pale yellow flower at top. Carp, very numerous, blunt. Apr. 



9. ISOPYRUffl, L. False Rue Anemone. Fig. 288. Sepals 5, 

 petaloid, deciduous ; petals 5, small, tubular, sometimes ; stamens 

 10—40 ; ovaries 3 — 20 ; follicles subsessilo, acuminate with the style, 

 2 — several-seeded. — Delicate herbs, with leaves 2 — 3-ternate, segments 

 2 — 3-lobed. Fls. pedunculate, axillary and terminal, white. 



1 I. bitern^tum Torr. & Gr. Low, erect, glabrous ; pet. none ; carp. 3 — 6, 

 broadly ovate, divaricate, sessile, strongly veined, 2-seedod ; sds. ovate, com- 

 pressed, smooth, and shining. — 71 Damp shades. Lake Erie to Ark., rare. Rt. 

 fibrous. Stems several, 4 — 10' high. Lvs. mostly l^iternate, the radical on long 

 petioles, segm. cuneate-obovate, 4 — 6" long, on stalks of equal length. Fls. on 

 slender peduncles 1 — 2' long. May. Looks like the Rue Anemone. 



10. CALTHA, L. Marsh Marigold. (Gr. KciXadog, a goblet ; the 

 yellow calyx may. well be compared to a golden cup.) Calyx colored, 

 of 5 — 9 sepals, resembling petals ; corolla ; stamens oo, shorter than 

 the sepals; follicles 5 — 10, oblong, compressed, erect, many seeded. — 

 2| Aquatic and very glabrous. 



C. palfistrls L. lvs. reniform or orbicular, crenate or entire. — "Wet meadows. 

 Can. to Car., "W. to Oregon. Root large, branching. Stem about If high, some- 

 times trailing, hollow, round, dichotomous. Lower lvs. 2 — 4' wide, on long semi- 

 cyliadrio petioles, upper ones sessile, all of a dark, shining green, veiny and smooth. 

 Fls. of a golden yellow in aU their parts, IJ' diam., few and pedunculate. Outer 

 row of filaments clavate, twice longer than the inner. The young leaves are in 

 great request in spring for greens. May. 



11. COPTIS, Salisb. Goldthread. (Gr. kottto), to chop or cut; 

 referring to the parted leaves.) Sepals 5 — 7, oblong, concave, colored, 

 deciduous ; petals 5 — 1, small, clavate, tubular at apex ; stamens 20 — 25 ; 

 follicles 5 — 10, stipitate, rostrate, diverging in a stellate manner, 

 4 — 6seeded. — Low herbs with radical lvs., and a long, slender, peren- 

 nial, creeping rhizome. 



C. trifolia Salisb. Lvs. 3-foliate ; scape l-flowered ; petals much smaller than 

 the sepals. — Penn., N. to Arctic Am. St. subterranean, extensively creeping, 

 golden yellow, very bitter and tonic. Lvs. all radical, Ifts. sessile, 4 — 8" long, 

 crenate-mucronate, smooth, coriaceous, common petiole 1 — 2' long. Ped. 3 — 4' 

 high, with a single minute bract above the middle, bearing a single . white, star- 

 like flower. The yellow petals are barely distinguishable by their color among 

 the white stamens. May. Medicinal 



12. TROLLIUS, L. Globe Flower. (Germ, trol or trollcn, globu- 

 lar ; alluding to the form of the flowers.) Sepals ^ — 10 — 15, roundish 



