Root fibrous, yellow. Stem 3 or 4 feet high, upright, straight 
branched, hollow, deeply furrowed, smooth, leafy. Leaves alter- 
nate, doubly pinnate, ultimately ternate, with general and partial 
membranous, rounded stipulas. Leaflets somewhat wedge-shaped, 
usually 3-cleft, but sometimes undivided, entire, varying much in 
breadth and sharpness, veiny ; deep green and shining above ; paler 
beneath. Sometimes the upper 'leaflets are strap-shaped, when it 
is the T. nigricans of Jacquin. Panicle very much branched, 
upright, somewhat corymbose; flowers very numerous. Calyx 
(fig. 1.) of 4, cream-coloured, deciduous, sepals. Stamens many, 
hair-like, several times longer than the sepals. Anthers up- 
right, yellow. Germens (figs. 3 & 4.) several, sessile, deeply fur- 
rowed. Styles none. Stigmas (see figs. 3 & 4.) short, oblique, 
heart-shaped, downy. Seeds (see figs. 5 & 6.) deeply furrowed, 
hairy. 
The root of this species has been used to dye wool of a yellow 
colour, and is said to have been serviceable, when taken in small 
doses, in removing the jaundice. Cattle will eat it when mixed 
with grass, but it is too acrid to be eaten alone. 
Some of the exotic species of this genus, of which Mr. G. Don 
describes 53, are very ornamental, and a few of them are cultivated 
in the flower-garden, under the name of Feather Columbine, espe- 
cially 2 or 3 varieties of Thalictrum aquilegifolium. They are 
mostly hardy perennial herbaceous free growing plants, and are 
easily increased by dividing the roots. 
“ The heart’s affections — are they not like flowers 1 
In life’s first spring they blossom ; summer comes 
And ’neath the scorching blaze they droop apace ; 
Autumn revives them not : in languid groups 
They linger still, perchance, by grove or stream. 
But Winter frowns and gives them to the winds ; 
They are all withered ! 
Death ! 
Cold, blank, remorseless, and mysterious death, 
Why dost thou fall so gently on the weed — 
Leaving it beauty even in decay, — 
Beauty and fragrance, — whilst to man thy touch 
Is as the touch of stern annihilation 1 
Love, genius, virtue, lost in rottenness ! 
It is most strange ! 
The unfathomable heart of man ! 
Why with a withered weed should there be linked 
A thousand gentle feelings and emotions, 
That break around the soul like rippling waves 
Upon a summer shore ? Yet all will die ! 
A few brief years, — and will not this full heart 
Be but a withered weed ! 
Perchance ’tis very childishness that weaves 
Fancies with flowers, and borrows from their hue, 
A colour for our thoughts but if it be. 
It is weakness that will win a smile, 
Not tempt a frown from sage philosophy ; 
Or if he frown, in sooth, he’s not the sage 
Men take him for — I would not give the love 
My heart can feel for this frail harmless thing 
Of green and gold, to be enshrined in all 
The dusty grandeur of his worm-eat lore.” 
H. G. BELL. 
