RANUNCULACE^. 3 



NIA mucronate. — Herbaceous perennials icith radical leaves, 

 a 2 — 3 leaved involucre at the base of the flower-stalks, and 

 whitish flowers. 



1. A. nemorosa, L. Wood Anemone. 



Stem low, simple, smooth, 1-flowered. Leaves ternate ; leaflets undivided, or with 

 the middle-one 3-cleft, and lateral ones 3-parted, incisely dentate, those of the invo- 

 lucre similar, petlolate. Sepals oval or elliptical. 



Var. quinqmJvUa D C. Lateral leaves of the involucre 2-parted to the base. 



Margin of woods. April and May. A delicate vernal species. Stem or scape 4 — 8 

 inches high. Flowers 1 inch in diameter. Sepals 4 — 7, white or purplish. Carpels 

 15 — 20, oblong, with a hooked beak. 



2. A. Pennsylvania, L. 



Stun dichotomous ; leaves 3 to 5 parted ; segments 3-cleft, lobes oblong, incisely 

 toothed, acuminate ; involucre 3-\e&yed; involucels 2-leaved, sessile ; sepals 5, obvate ; 

 carpels hairy, in a globose head. 



Shores and rocky places. June, August. Stem 12 to 18 inches high. Flowers 1 

 to 1% inch in diameter, borne on naked peduncles. Sepals white and membrana- 

 ceous! 



3. A. Virginiana, L. Thimble Weed. 



Leaves ternate; segments oval-lanceolate, 3-cleft, acuminate, cut serrate, the lateral 

 2-parted, those of the involucre similar ; sepals 5, acute ; peduncles elongated ; 

 carpels densely wooly, in an ovoid oblong head. 



"Woods and meadows ; common. June, August. Stem 20 to 30 inches high ; the 

 upright peduncles o to 12 inches long. Flowers % of an inch in diameter. Sepals 

 greenish-white, silky beneath, 2 narrower than the others.i*>wrt woolly, in heads 

 one inch long. 



3. HEPATICA. Willd. Liverleaf. 



Gr. Iwpar. the liver; from a fancied resemblance of its leaves. 



Involucre 3 leaved, simple, resembling a calyx, 1-flow- 

 ered. Sepals petaloid 5 — 9, disposed in 2 or 3 rows. Ova- 

 ries many. Carpels without awns. — Leaves all radical, 

 heart-shaped and 3-lobed, thickish and persistent through the 

 year ; the new ones appearing later than the flowers. Flowers 

 single , on hairy scapes. 



1. H. triloba, Willd. Liverwort, Liverleaf. 



Leaves cordate, 3 to 5 lobed ; lobes entire. 



Var. 1, Obtasa, Pursh. Leaves 3-lobed ; roundish, obtuse. 



Var. 2. Acuta, Pursh. Leaves 3 to 5 lobed ; lobes spreading, acute. 



Woods and rocky places ; common. This neat little plant is one of the earliest 

 harbingers of Spring. April and May. Perennial. The root consists of numerous 

 fibres. Flowers generally blue, but frequently purplish and white : becoming 

 double by cultivation. 



4. THALICTRUM. L. Meadow Rue. 



Sepals 4 or more, petaloid, greenish, caducous. Petals 

 none. Achenia 4 — 15 dry tipped by the stigma or short 



