POLYAXDRIA POLYGYXIA 335 



the veins not prominent, margins entire and rcvolute, with the petioles usually 

 more slender am! rather longer than in the preceding species. Flowers in large 

 loose terminal panicles, dioicous, or polygamous. Sepals greenish white, elliptic- 

 ovate, small. Filaments clavate,<>r dilated near the anther ; anthers linear-oblong, 

 obtuse. Stigmas long, linear, pubescent. Carjiels lance-ovoid, tapering at each 

 end, beaked with the slender persistent style, ribbed and sulcate, substipkate. 



Hab. Wet meadows; along rivulets: frequent. FL July. FY. Sept. 



Obs. The Thalictrums of this section all present varietieswh'ich have been descri- 

 bed as distinct species ; and we are under obligations to Prof. Hooker for reducing 

 a number of them to their true character— -and thereby removing much of the 

 confusion that has hitherto existed respecting them. It is not certain, I believe, 

 that we have any other well-determined species in the U. Slates. 



264. CLEMATIS. L. JSfntt. Gen. 483. 

 [Greek, Klema, a twig, or runner ; in allusion to its pliant climbing stem.] 



Involucre 0, or resembling a calyx under the flower. Sepals 4 to 8, 

 colored. Carpels numerous, caudate, or terminated by a long, and 

 mostly plumose, awn. 



Herbaceous, or fruticose: mostly climbing; leaves opposite, ternate, or impcr* 

 fectly pinnate, sometimes simple ; flowers terminal, or axillary, sub-paniculate, or 

 solitary, sometimes dioicous. Nat. Orel. 3. Lindl. Rakukculacbjb. 



1. C. viiigixiava, L. tiicavcs ternate ; leaflets lance-ovate, acumin- 

 ate, coarsely incised-dentatc, or lobed; flowers paniculate, dioicous, 

 Becky Bot. p. 4. 



Virginia* Clematis. Vulgo— Virgin's Bower. Traveller's joy. 



Root perennial. Stem 8 to 12 or 15 feet long, slender, with axillary divaricate 

 branches, climbing over bushes, herbaceous and pubescent when youne, finally 

 suffruticose and smoothish, annual, filled with pith. Leaves ternate, on petioles 

 2 to 3 or 4 inches long ; leaflets 1 to 3 inches long, and half an inch to 2 inches 

 wide, petiolate, somewhat pubescent beneath and on the margin, the larger ones 

 often a liule cordate at base, the small upper ones sometimes entire. Flowers in 

 opposite axillary pedunculate trichotomous corymbose panicles, dioicous by abor- 

 tion ; pedicels, and branches of the panicles, pubescent, bracteate at base. Sepals 

 white, elliptic, or obovate-oblong, pubescent, longer than the stamens, and young 

 pistils. Ovaries pubescent ; styles clothed with long silky hairs, persistent, finally 

 elongated ; stigmas minutely pubescent, recurved. Carpels hirsute, substipitaf , 

 compressed, lance-ovate, acuminate, crowned with the whitish silky-plumes* 

 styles, which are very slender, recurved, and an inch or more in length. 

 Hab. Moist thickets ; fe nee -ro w s, &c. frequent. Fl. July-Aug. Fr. Sept-Octo. 



2. C. tiorxa, L. Leaves pinnate ; leaflets in two or three distant 

 pairs, ovate, entire, or 3-lobed, floral ones entire ; peduncles 1-flowered ; 

 sepals connivent, thick, acuminate, with the apex recurved. Beck 

 Bot. p. 4. 



Vulgo — Leather-flower. 

 Root perennial. Stem 6 to 8 or 10 feet long, climbing pubescent, purple, finally 

 suffruticose. Leaves pinnately compound, on long petioles; leaflets in 2 to 4 dis- 

 tant pairs, 1 to 3 inches long, and half an inch to 2 inches wide, ovate, or lance- 

 ovate, acute, often 2 or 3-lobed, smoothish, on petioles about an inch lonA-Ow 



toTlnrh V T 0fte r Cirrh0SC ^ ^^ Fl01t6rS *> litw * ***** ^ f"*2*i 3 

 to 6 inches long, with a pair of small ovate entire leaves near the middle. Sepals 



