KANUNCULACE^. (CEOWfOOT FAMILY.) 13 



2 D. tricdl'ne, Michx. (Dwarf Lakkspur.) Leaves deeply 5-part 

 ed, their divisions unequally 3-5-cleft; the lobes linear, acutish; raceme few 

 flowered, loose; spur straightish, ascending; pods strongly diverging. IJ. — TV. 

 Ponn. to Illinois and southward. April, May. — Eoot a tuberous cluster. Stem 

 simple, 6' -12' high. Flowers bright blue, sometimes white. 



3. D. azftreum, Michx. (Azuke Larkspur.) Leaves deeply 3-5- 

 parted, the divisions 2-3 times cleft; the lobes all naiTowly linear; raceme 

 strict ; spur ascending, usually cm-ved upwards ; pods 3-5, erect. Ij. — Wiscon- 

 sin, Illinois, and southward. May, June. — Stem l°-2° high, slender, often 

 softly pubescent. Plowers sky-blue or whitish. 



4. D. Cons6lida, L. (Field Larkspur.) Leaves dissected into nar- 

 row linear lobes ; racemes rather few-flowered, loose ; pedicels shorter than the 

 bracts; petcUs all combined into one body; pod one, glabrous. (D — Ponn. (Mer- 

 cersburg. Porter) and Virginia, escaped from grain-fields : and sparingly along 

 road-sides fai-ther north. (Nat. from Eu.) 



17. ACOKITtTM, Tom-n. Aconite. Monkshood. Wolfsbane. 



Sepals 5, petal-like, very in-egular; the upper one (helmet) hooded or helmet- 

 shaped, larger than the others. Petals 2 (the 3 lower wanting entirely, or very 

 minute rudiments among the stamens), consisting of small spur-shaped bodies 

 raised on long claws and concealed under the helmet. Pistils 3-5. Pods sev- 

 eral-seeded. Seed-coat usually wrinkled or scaly. — Perennials, ^vith* palmately 

 cleft or dissected leaves, and showy flowers in racemes or panicles. (The an- 

 cient Greek and Latin name, said to be derived from Acone, in Bithynia.) 



1. A. nncinatum, L. (Wild Monkshood.) Glabrous; stem slen- 

 der, erect, but weak and disposed to climb ; leaves deeply 3 - 5-lobed, petiolod ; the 

 lobes ovate-lanceolate, coaj-sely toothed ; flowers blue ; helmet erect, obtusely conical, 

 comjn'essed, slightly pointed or beaked in front. — Rich shady soil along streams, 

 S. W. New York, and southward along the mountains. June- Aug. 



2. A. reclinatum, Gray. (Trailing Wolfsbane.) Glabrous ; 

 stems trailing (3° -8° long) ; leaves deeply S-T -cleft, petiolod, the lower orbicu- 

 lar in outline ; the divisions wedge-fonn, incised, often 2 - 3-lobed ; flowers white, 

 in vci-y loose panicles ; helmet soon horizontal, elongated-conical, with a straight 

 beak in front. — Cheat Mountain, Virginia, and southward in the AUeghanies. 

 Aug. — Lower leaves 5' - 6' wide. Flowers 9" long, nearly glabrous. 



18. ZANTHOBHIZA, Mai-shall. Shrub Yellow-root. 



Sepals 5, regular, spreading, deciduous. Petals 5, much smaller than the 

 sepals, concave and obscurely 2-lobed, raised on a claw. Stamens 5 or 10. 

 Pistils 5-15, beaiing 2 or 3 pendulous ovules. Pods 1 -seeded, oblong, the 

 short style becoming dorsal in its growth. — A low shrubby plant; the bark 

 and the long roots deep yellow and bitter. Flowers polygamous, dull purple, 

 in compound drooping racemes, appealing, along with the 1 - 2-pinnate leaves, 

 from laj-ge terminal buds in early spring. (Name compounded of lavfldy, yellow, 



and ptfoj root.) 



a 



