﻿A Shrub. — Flowers in July and August. 



Stems numerous, woody, angular, very long, much entangled, 

 climbing up the adjoining shrubs and trees, to which they attach 

 themselves by means of the permanent, hardened, twining foot- 

 stalks, (petioles,) which serve as tendrils. Leaves deciduous, 

 opposite, spreading ; their leaflets 5, stalked, heart-shaped, pointed, 

 finely hairy, either quite entire, unequally cut, or coarsely serrated. 

 Flowers greenish white, sweet-scented, in axillary and terminal 

 panicles. Sepals 4, sometimes 5, thick, spreading, reflexed, most 

 downy on the outside. Pericarps (figs. 5 & 6.) furnished with 

 long, wavy, feathery and silky tails, forming beautiful tufts, which 

 towards autumn ornament and enliven the hedges, when flowers 

 have vanished. The seeds retain their vegetative principle for 

 many years, if kept dry. It is a noxious plant in hedges, as it is 

 apt to suffocate and destroy those trees and shrubs which are planted 

 for defence. The whole plant is astringent, corrosive, and diuretic. 

 An infusion has been recommended in dropsy ; it has also been 

 used as a rubefacient in the treatment of rheumatism. The 

 branches are so strong and pliant as to be used for bands or withs 

 for faggots. Boys frequently cut off a piece from a dry branch, 

 light it, and smoke it like a cigar ; hence they call it smoke-wood. 

 In F ranee, the stems and branches are used for making bee-hives, 

 baskets, &c. The dried leaves are said to form good fodder for 

 cattle, notwithstanding they would poison the animals if they were 

 eaten in a fresh state. 



The Natural Order Ranuncui.a'ceje is composed of polypetalous dicotyle- 

 donous herbs, or very rarely shrubs ; with alternate or opposite, generally di- 

 vided leaves, their petioles more or less dilated at the base, and forming a sheath 

 half embracing the stem. Hairs/d any, simple. The inflorescence is variable. 

 The calyx is composed of from 3 to 0 inferior, deciduous sepals, which are ge- 

 nerally imbricate in arstivation, occasionally they are valvate or duplicate. The 

 corolla consists of from 5 to 15 petals, which are inferior, and arranged in one 

 or more rows, distinct; sometimes they are deformed in correspondence with 

 metamorphosis in the stamens ; sometimes (as in the genus Clematis) the corolla 

 is wanting. The stamens are hypogynous, free, and indefinite in number; the 

 anthers are adnate, and usually turned outwards. The pistils, which are seated 

 on a torus or receptacle, are 1-celled or united into a single many-celled pistil- 

 lum ; the ovarium is one or more seeded, the ovules adhering to the inner edge ; 

 the styles are short and simple, one to each ovarium. i\\e fruit is either pseu- 

 dospermous*, baccate with one or more seeds, capsular, or follicular with one 

 or two valves. The seeds are albuminous ; when solitary, either upright orpen- 

 dulous, or if many, usually disposed in one row along the margin of the carpel. 

 The embryo is minute, and placed in the base of a corneous (horny) albumen. 



Many of the plants of this order are very ornamental, and are, on 

 that account, cultivated in gardens, but their acrid and venomous 

 properties are very great. The principle upon which their delete- 

 rious powers depends is, according to the observation of Krappe.v, 

 of a very singular nature. It is so volatile, that in most cases, sim- 

 ply drying in the air, or infusion in water, is sufficient to destroy it ; 

 it is said to be neither acrid nor alkaline, but its activity is increased 

 by the addition of acids, or the admixture of honey, sugar, wine, 

 or alcohol, and it is in reality destructable only in water. The 

 fresh herb applied externally to the skin causes blisters. The roots 

 are usually drastic or emetic. See Lindl. Synop. and Don's Gen. 

 Syst. of Gard. and Bot. 



A falsa seed, a small carpel, as those of Ranunculus and Clematis. 1)on. 



