POLYANDRIA MOXOOYNIA 31 9 



or 9 inches wide, erect in shallow water, floating in deep water, smooth, 

 coriaceous, deep green, cordate, rather obtuse, the sinus at base deep and 

 acute, withtho lobes diverging and s>me\vhat truncate obliquely ; petioles thick, 

 sjmi-terete, of variable length. Peluncles, or scapes, 6 to 12 or 18 inches ionr, 

 varying with the depth of the water. Sepals roundish-ovate, concave, subcoriaceou-, 

 roughishtubcrculate, the 3 outer ones green, yellowish at apex, the 3 inner ones 

 much larger, orbicular, narrowed at base, petaloid, yellow, with tinges of green 

 and purple. Petals about M, yellow, cuneatc-oblong, obtuse, fleshy, less than half 

 the length of the sepals. S. aniens numerous, in several series, about as long as 

 the petals ; filaments broad, spatulate-linear, truncate, at first erect, then recur- 

 ved, reddish orange-color; anthers long, linear, adnate in pairs to the inr.er or 

 upper side of the filaments, Ovary ovoid-oblong, angularly ribbed, or grooved ; 

 stigma sessile, a fiat smooth orbicular dish, slightly umbilicate in the centre, and 

 crenate or repand on the margin, half an incU to 3 quarters in diameter, marked 

 with 12 to lo radiating lines, which correspond with the number of cells in the 

 fruit. 



Hab. Pools, and still waters ; Brandy wine : frequent. Fl. May-Sep. Fr. Aug— Oct. 

 Obs. Two or three additional species arc enumerated in the U. States. 



253. ACT-EA. L. Nutt. Gen. 466. 

 [Greek, A.'dc, ihe cider-bush ; from a supposed resemblance in the foliage.] 



Calyx of 4 caducous sepals. Petals 4 to 8 or 10 (sometimes wanting), 

 caducous. Carpels many-seeded, dry and dehiscent, or berry-like and 

 not opening. 



Herbaceous: leaves decompound ; flowers in terminal racemes. Aa/. Ord.3. 

 IdndU K anunc ulacb m. 



* Carpels dry, dehiscent. 



1. A. iiacemosa, i. Leaves ternately decompound; leaflets ovate, 

 oblong ; racemes compound, virgate ; pedicels slender; petals minute ; 

 carpels dry, opening with two valves. Beck, BoU p. 13. 

 Cimicifuga Serpentaria. Pureh, Am* 2. /;. 372. IdndL Ency, p. 476. 

 C. raceraosa. Nutt. Gen, 2. /;. 15. Bart. Phil. 2. /;. 12. Ell. Sh. 2. p. 

 16. Florid. Cestr.p. 58. Ton\ Comp. p. 219. 

 Macrotrys racemosa. Eat. Man. p. 217. 

 Racemose Actjea. Vulgb — Tall Snake-root. Black Snake-root. 



Root perennial, large, branching. Stem 4 to 6 feet high, slender, smooth, naked 

 below and towards the summit, leafy near the middle, with 1 or 2 radical leaves 

 on long erect petioles. Leaves triternate, pctiolate ; leaflets 2 to 4 inches long, and 

 1 to 2 inches wide, ovatcoblong, acute or acuminate, nearly smooth, unequally in- 

 ciseddentate, teeth acuminate, the terminal leaflet larger, often 3-lobed. Racemes 

 terminal and subterminal,G to 12 inches long, many-flowered, pubescent; pedicel* 

 about 1 third of an inch long, sometimes in pairs, or branched, each with a short 

 subulate bract at base. Sepals roundish-ovate, concave, greenish white, caducous. 

 Petals 41 white, very small, oblong, pedicellate, bifurcate at apex. Stamens nu- 

 merous, white, twice as long as the ovary. Fruit ovoid, somewhat compressed, 

 dry and capsular, obliquely beaked by the short thick persistent style. 

 Hob. Rich woodlands : common. Fl. June. Fr. September. 



Obs. The white racemes of this plant, when in flower, are quite conspicuous 

 in our woodlands. The plant, itself, has a heavy disagreeable odor, when bruised. 

 The root is somewhat mucilaginous and astringent; and is a very popular med- 

 icine, both for man and beast. It is used in infusion, or decoction, chiefly as a pec- 

 toral remedy for human patients ;— and many persons consider it almost apanacea 

 for a sick cow. Its virtues, however, are probably much overrated. 



