230 



SYSTEMATIC BOTANY. 



the great lakes ; its wood is white, and prized for pump 

 logs, wooden bowls, and a variety of other purposes. Other 

 species of the genus, as the Umbrella-trees (M. Umbrella, 

 M. macrophylla), Sweet Bay (J£ glauca), etc., are planted 

 for ornament wherever they can endure the winters. The 

 Tulip-tree, or Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron Tulipifera), is 

 a grand forest tree of the Eastern United States, attaining 

 at times a height of one hundred and forty feet, and a 

 diameter of nine feet; it furnishes a light, yellowish wood, 

 used very extensively in cabinet-making, and a variety of 

 other purposes. It is much prized as an ornamental tree 

 .for parks, or where sufficient space permits it to assume a 

 beautiful and regularly conical form; the tulip-like flower, 

 as well as the foliage, is very handsome. 



32. Ranunculaceae. The Crowfoot family. Herbs, 

 rarely shrubs. Leaves generally alternate or i-adical. 

 Sepals and petals each five ; 

 stamens many, pistils gener- 

 ally many, not united. Species 

 about five hundred, many of 

 which were formerly considered 

 •medicinal, yet but few are used 

 to-day. Wolfsbane, called also 

 Monkshood (AconUum Napel- 

 lus), of Europe furnishes the 

 drug Aconite. The natives of 

 India poison their arrows with 

 a virulent poison obtained from sii 



A. ferox. From the Black, Foetid, and Green Hellebores 

 {Helleborus niger, foetidim, and viridis) drastic and poison- 

 ous drugs are obtained. Many plants of this family are 



Fig. 341. Clematis Jackmanni. 



