I. EANUNCULACE^. 



21 



In stony places, chiefly in limestone 

 districts, in southern Europe, extend- 

 ing here and there into central Europe, 

 but neither a northern nor an eastern 

 plant. It has been found in several 

 parts of England, and is said to be 

 really wild in Hampshire, but, like the 

 last, it is in most cases an introduced 

 plant. Fl. early spring. 



Tier. 26. 



X. COLUMBINE. AQUXLEGIA. 



Perennial herbs with the leaves chiefly radical, ternately divided, 

 with distinct stalked segments or leaflets. Sepals 5, coloured. Petals 

 5, each terminating below in a horn-shaped spur, projecting below the 

 calyx. Stamens numerous. Carpels 5, each with several seeds. 



A small but very distinct genus, widely spread over the temperate 

 regions of the northern hemisphere, especially in mountain districts, in 

 the new as well as in the old world. 



1. Common Columbine. Aquilegia vulgaris, Linn. (Fig. 27.) 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 297.) 



Radical and lower leaves in a large 

 tuft, each with a long stalk, once, twice, 

 or even three times ternately divided, 

 the segments broad, 3-lobed, and cre- 

 nate, of a glaucous-green, glabrous, or 

 with a few hairs underneath. Elower- 

 stem 1\ to 2 feet or more high, bear- 

 ing a loose panicle with a few leaves 

 at its ramifications much less divided 

 than the lower ones. Elowers large, 

 drooping, blue, or of a dull purple. 



In coppices and open woods in cen- 

 tral and southern Europe and central 

 Asia, extending northwards into Scan- j?i<r. 27. 



