222 ORDER XII. FUMARTACEJS. 



1. D. formo'sa, (D. C.) Leaven 3 — S, or one rising from the crown 

 of the rhizorua. Spur short, obtuse, somewhat incurved ; wings of the 

 inner petals projecting beyond the summit. Stigma 2-horned at the 

 apex. — Reddish-purple. If. Mountains of Vir. and N. C. 8 — 12 

 inches. (T. & G ) 



Genus II.— ADLU'MIA. Raf. 16—5. (Climbing Colic-weed.) 

 (In honor of Major Adlum.) 



Petals united into a spongy, persistent, monopetalous corolla, 

 bigibbous at the base, 4-lobed at the apex. Capsule pod- 

 shaped, linear-oblong, many-seeded. Flowers in racemose 

 cymes. Plant climbing, herbaceous. 



1. A. cirrho'sa, (Raf.) Stem branching, climbing by cirrhose tendrils. 

 Leaves alternately divided. Segments obovate. Flowers numerous. 

 Stamens monadelphous. — Pale violet or white. $ . June. Canada to 

 N. C. 



Genus III— CORYD'ALIS. D. C. 16—5. 

 (From the Greek corvdalis, the name of the plant) 



Only one of the petals spurred. Capsule 2-valved, many or 

 few seeded, compressed. Style persistent. Racemes terminal 

 or opposite the leaves, simple. 



1. C. au'rea, (Wild.) Stem branching. Leaves bipinnate, or vari- 

 ously dissected ; lobes oblong, linear, glaucous, alternate. Spur straight, 

 obtuse. Flowers in terminal, supra-axillary racemes, or opposite the 

 leaves. Pedicels bracteolate, with bracts sometimes extending beyond 

 the flower. — Yellow. @. April to August. Middle Geo. 



Genus IV.— FUMA'RIA. L. 16—5. {Fumitory.) 

 (From the Latin fumus, smoke.) 



One petal only gibbous or spurred. Fruit a 1-seeded nut, 

 indehiscent. 



1. F. officinalis, (L.) Root annual, fusiform. Stem branching, gla- 

 brous. Leaves variously dissected, glabrous, and slightly glaucous. Seg> 

 ments many-cleft. Flowers in small, dense racemes. Sepals toothed. 

 Petals 4; the lower one free; the three i;ppcr united at the base, 

 bearing a spur. Stigma bilamellate. — Purple. $ . April. Natural- 

 ized. 



The order Fumariacea} possesses some striking peculiarities. Tiie general form 

 of the flower is singular, resembling more the works of art than of nature. The char- 

 acteristic of having the different celled anthers some unilocular and others bilocular, 

 is a striking variation. Torrey & Gray remark, that "the two lateral stamens of each 

 parcel, having unilocular anthers, may be considered as half stamens, formed by the 

 division of the two stamens winch correspond to the inner petals; the true number 

 in the order, according to this view, being 4 — one to each petal." The situation of 

 the anthers and stigma in the indurated summit of the petals, in which they remain 

 firmly inclosed till after fertilization, would seem to preclude the possibility of the 

 pollen's coming in contact with the stigma. To adapt herself to those circumstances, 

 nature his placed two horn-like appendages to the stigma, which extend under the 

 an;her cells, and by the mere contraction of the valves, the pollen is conveyed to the 

 Stigmatic surface without any change in position of tho organs. The different genera 

 of this order possess nearly the same properties, and the Fumaria has been used in 

 medicine, particularly for its action on the liver and in cutaneous eruptions, 



