PAPAVERACE^E. 



127 



Sanguinaria. — Linn. 



Sepals 2. Petals 8-12. Stamens 24. Stigmas 2, connate. Pericarps oblong, pod-like, 

 acute at each extremity, 2-valved. Seeds numerous, obovate. 



A genus named from the circumstance of the root containing a large quan- 

 tity of a blood or rather orange-red juice ; it consists of but one species, pe- 

 culiar to North America. 



S. canadensis, Linn. — Leaves radical, solitary, cordate, lobed ; scape sheathed at base, 

 1 -flowered; petals oblong, obtuse. 



Linn. Sp. PI. 723; Torrey & Gray, Fl. i. 62; Barton, Veg. Mat. Med. 

 i. 31 ; Bigelovv, Med. Bot. i. 75 ; Rafinesque, Med. Flor. ii. 78 ; Lindley, 

 Med. Flor. 16. 



Common names. — Blood root, Puccoon, Turmeric, &c. 



Description. — Root a horizontal, 

 fleshy rhizome, truncate or praemorse, Fig- 72 - 



giving off a few fibres, and abounding 

 in a bright orange juice. The leaf and 

 flower spring up together, the scape 

 and flower-bud being enveloped in the 

 young leaf, which unfolds as the flower 

 expands. The leaf is erect, supported 

 on a long petiole, cordate or subreni- 

 form, smooth, of a green colour above, 

 and glaucous beneath. The scape is 

 1-flowered, erect. The calyx is formed 

 of two ovate, obtuse sepals, which fall 

 off" as soon as the corolla expands ; 

 this is composed of eight or more 

 spreading, oblong, obtuse petals, of a 

 white colour. The stamens are nume- 

 rous, short, with orange-coloured, ob- 

 long anthers. The ovary is oblong 

 and compressed, and crowned with 

 two connate stigmas. The capsule is 

 oblong, narrowed at each end, 2-valved, 

 and containing numerous, obovate red 

 seeds, with a white arillus. 



This beautiful plant is one of 

 the first harbingers of spring, ex- 

 panding its delicate white petals 

 in March and April. It is found 

 in most parts of the United States, 

 in rich, light soil, on shaded 

 banks, or at the edge of woods. 

 The flowers are devoid of smell, 

 and the petals are very caducous. 

 The leaf is small whilst the plant 

 is in blossom, but rapidly in- 

 creases in size afterwards. The 

 whole plant is pervaded with an 

 acrid orange-coloured juice, which 



is in greatest abundance in the s. canadensis, 



root. There are several varieties 

 differing in the number and form of the petals, but none of them are perma- 



