(47.) 
EPIME'DIUM* *. 
Linnean Class and Order. Tetra'ndria, Monogy'nia. 
Natural Order. BERBERi'DEyE. Ventenant. — Lind. Syn. p. 14. ; 
Introd. to Nat. Syst. Bot. p. 30. — Rich by Macgilliv. p. 469. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, of 4 small, egg-shaped, 
concave, blunt, spreading, deciduous leaves. Corolla of 4 egg- 
shaped, equal, blunt, concave, spreading petals, (fig. 2.) which are 
opposite to the leaves of the calyx. Nectaries 4, cup-shaped, (fig. 3.) 
blunt, equal, one lying upon each petal, and nearly as long, attached 
underneath to the receptacle, by one side of the orifice. Filaments 4, 
awl-shaped, upright, close to the style. Anthers oblong, 2-celled, 
attached longitudinally to the inner side of the filament, below its 
summit, each cell opening by a valve, which bursts from the bottom 
and rolls back. Germen (fig. 5.) oblong, with a furrow at the 
back. Style roundish, as long as the stamens. Stigma simple. Pod 
oblong, pointed, of 1 cell and 2 valves. Seeds numerous, oblong. — 
Distinguished from other genera, in the same class and order, by a 
corolla of 4 petals, 4 large hollow nectaries, lying on the petals, a 
superior, 1-celled, many-seeded pod, and a deciduous calyx. 
One species British. 
EPIME'DIUM ALPI'NUM. Alpine Barrenwort. 
Spec. Char. Root-leaves none ; Stem-leaf twice or thrice 
ternate. 
Engl. Bot. t. 438. — Flora Graeca, v. ii. p. 39. t. 150. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. i. 
p. 187. — Eng. FI. v. i. p. 220. — With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 235. — Lindl. Syn. p. 
15. — Hook. Br. FI. p. 68.— Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 708. — Hook. FI. Scot. p. 
55. — Grev. FI. Edin. p. 38. — Epimedium, Johnson’s Gerarde, 480- — Black. 
Spec. Bot. p. 19. 
Localities. — Woods, and in mountain thickets. — Very rare. — In woods 
near Bingley, about six miles from North Bierley, Yorkshire, where it was first 
found by Dr. Richardson, prior to 1740. See BlaCkstone’s Spec. Bot. — 
(Mr. Hailstone, in Whitaker’s Craven, observes, that it is not now to be 
found in Bingley Woods. Dr. Withering, in Bot. Arr.) — Dr. Withering 
informs us that Mr. Roeson sent him a specimen, which was gathered on 
Skiddaw, in July, 1795; and that he had also specimens from the Rev. T. 
Gisborne, whose plants were discovered in 1787, in a very wild part of Cum- 
berland, called Carrock Fell. — On Saddleback, near Threlkeld, Cumberland. 
Mr. Hutton and Mr. Rudoe, in Bot. Guide. — About the ruins of Mugdoch 
Castle, near Glasgow, abundantly. Mr. Hopkirk, in Hook. FI. Scot. — Hun- 
ter’s Tryste, near Edinburgh. Dr. Hastings, ibid. 
Perennial. — Flowers in May. 
Root somewhat creeping, of a reddish-brown colour on the out- 
side, yellowish-white within. Stems upright, stiff, unbranched, 
Fig. 1. A Sepal, (Calyx leaf). — Fig. 2. A Petal. — Fig. 3. One of the 
Nectaries.— Fig. 4. Stamens and Pistil. — Fig. 5. Germen, Style, and Stigma. — 
Fig. 6. Pod (Siliqua). — Fig. 7. The same, with one of the valves removed to 
show the seeds. 
* “ Name of obscure origin: applied by Dioscorides to a plant, which 
some suppose to be the Eotryckium Lunaria, and which grew plentifully in 
Media.” Dr. Hooker. 
