PENTAXDKIA BIGYMA 175 



Herbaceous: leaves radical, on long petioles, palmate-nerved, sub-lobed, de*. 

 iato • scape mostly leafless ; flowers in a* ♦ rminal paniculate bracteate raceme. 

 Xat. Ord. 38. Lindl. Saxifrjlobje. 



I. H. amf.ricana, //. Viscid-pubescent, somewhat scabrous ; leaves 

 roundish-cordate, somewhat 7-Iobed, cren te-dentate, teeth dilated, mu- 

 cronate ; raceme thyreoid, elongated; peduncles di- or tri-chotomous. 

 divaricate ; calyx short, obtuse ; petals lance-obovate, scarcely as long 

 as the calyx ; stamens much exserted. Beck, Bot. p, 139. 



H. cortusa. Mx. .?//?. 1. p. 171. 



II. viscida. Pur&h, Am. I. p. 187, 



American- Hkuchkra. Vulgd — Alum-root. American Sanicle. 



Root perennial. Leaves all radical, 1 to 4 inches in length, and as wide as loBf* 

 somewhat hispidly pil >se : petioles 2 to 8 or 10 inches long, S ape erect 2 to A 

 loot high, (often 2 or 3 (v^ui the same root,) somewhat scabrous and clandular-hi«- 

 pid. Raceme (\ in 12 or 15 inches long, thyreoid, or paniculate, glandular-pubes- 

 cent ; peduncles half an inch to an inch or more in length* dichotomous. or often 

 subdivided in threes; brads subulate, ciliate. Calyx subturbinate, often more 

 Chan 5-cleft; segments obtuse. Petals whitish, with a linge of purple, very small, 

 lance-obovate, or spatulate , alternating with and rather shorter than the calyx- 

 segments. Stamens unequal, at first short, finally much longer than the calyy f 

 inserted on the calyx opposite the segments. Styles nearly as long as the stamens* 

 at length diverging. Capsule ovoid, acuminate, birostratc with the persistent style*., 

 1-celled, opening between the beaks. Seeds small, oblong, nearly black, murieate. 

 •r hispid. 



Bab. Rich woodlands ; fe nee- rows, &c. frequent. Ft* May— June. /*>. Aug. 



Obs. The root of this isc »nsidcra1 ly astringent: and is one of the Indian reme- 

 dies reputed to cure cancers, and other ill conditioned ulcers. It is doubtless of 

 gome value, if properly empl >yed. Seven other species are enumerated in North 

 America, by De Candolle % Hooker, ami Eaton,— of which 3 or 4 have been found in 

 tho U. States. I have received some very large specimens, which are not well 

 determined, from my friend Prof. Short, of Kentucky. 



§ 2. Flowers incomplete. 



131. CHENOPODIUM. L. JVutf. Gen. 284. 

 [Greek, Chen, chenos, a Goose, & Pous, podos f a foot ; from the form of the leave*'-] 



Calyx 5-partcd, obtusely 5-angled, persistent, embracing the fruit, but 

 not adhering to it. Corolla 0. Styles very short, united at base ; stig- 

 mas mostly obtuse. Utricle thin, membranaceous. Seed 1, vertically 

 depressed, lenticular. 



Herbaceous, or suffniticose : leaves mostly alternate, without stipules; flowers 

 glomerate, racemose, or subpaniculate ; fruit utricular. Aat. Ord. .153. Lindl. 

 €henopode.«. 



1, C. ambrobiotdes, /,. Leaves lanceolate, remotely dentate; vjf- 

 cemes simple, axillary, leafy. Beck, Bot. p. 296. 



Ambrosia-like Chenopodium. 



Whole plant yellowish green. Root annual. Stem 1 to 2 feet high, angular $r, 

 ridged, slightly pubescent, much branched. Leaves 1 to 2 inches long, and one 

 fourth to 3 fourths of an inch wide, acute at each end ; those on the stem oblong- 

 lanceolate, repand-dentate, petiolate ; those on the branches and racemes lanec- 

 lOMrj mostly entire, tubsessile. Flotsers in interrupted sessile clnsters, en slen'- 



