7. CYRTORHYNCHA. Nutt. mss.
Sepals 5, petaloid, narrow, spreading. Petals 5, narrow and unguiculate;
the claw nearly the length of the lamina, with a projecting scaly callosity
at its summit. Stamens rather numerous: anthers rounded. Stigmas short
anjl subulate, strongly incurred. Achenia oblong-cylindrical, somewhat conspicuously
grooved (not carinated), collected into a spheroidal head. Seed
suspended.—A small perennial herbaceous plant. Leaves mostly arising
from a short caudex, ternate and bipinnately divided. Panicle loose and cy-
mose. Calyx petaloid and, like the corolla, bright yellow. In the fruit it
resembles Thalictrum; in the flower, both Anemone and Ranunculus.”
C. ranunculina (Nutt.! mss.)
“ By the sides of gravelly brooks in the eastern range of the Rocky Mountains,
around the place known by the name of Independence Rock on the
banks of the Sweet Water of the Platte, but not further to the westward.
. l°wer_s 111 Caudex clothed with numerous brown vestiges of sheathlnS
petioles. The whole plant quite smooth. Leaves somewhat coriaceous
and shining ; radical ones On long petioles, the subdivisions pinnatifid ; lacunae
entire or 2-3-toothed. Stem, or scape, about a span high cymosely
branched above; bearing at the lowest division a single sessile 3-parted
teat, and at the upper divisions minute and undivided leaves. Sepals oblong
ovate, spreading but not reflexed. Petals somewhat longer than the
sepals, oblong, obtuse, very conspicuously narrowed below into a long claw
(almost like the nectaries of Coptis) ; the upper part of the claw thickened
rn a scaW^*e process. Stamens 20 or more,: anthers adnate. Carpels
10-15, quite glabrous, cylindrical-oblong, grooved (as in Thalictrum). Stigma
subulate, shorter than the ovary, inflexed so as to be almost concealed
m the mature fruit.”
T ribe III. H E L L E BO R E S . DC.
Petals irregular, often bilabiate or tubular, nectariferous, sometimes
wanting. Calyx petaloid. Anthers mostly extrorse. Carpels few
(rarely solitary), follicular, with several seeds.
8. CALTHA. Lin n .; DC. syst. 1. p. 306.
Sepals 6-9, petaloid. Petals none. Stamens numerous. Ovaries 5-10.
Follicles 5-10, compressed, spreading, many-seeded.—Perennial very glabrous
herbs. Leaves cordate or reniform (rarely sagittate).—The North
American species belong to § 2. Populago, DC.
1. C. palustris (Linn.) : stem erect; leaves suborbicular, cordate or reni-
form, obtusely crenate or nearly entire; the lohes rounded; sepals 5-6
broadly oval. DC. prodr. 1. p. 44; Michx. fl. 1. p. 324; Pursh, fl. 2. p
390; Darhngt.Jt. Cest.p. 336. , *
0. integerrima: leaves wholly entire; floral ones sessile, obscurely crenate
; petals obovate.—C. integerrima, Pursh ! Jl. 2. p. 390; DC. prodr 1'
p. 45. 1
y. parnassifolia: stem 1-flowered, 1-leaved; leaves allpetioled, broadlv-
reniform, sharply toothed; sepals elliptical.—C. parnassifolia, R a f. in med.
rep. 2. p. 361; Nutt. gen. 2. p. 22. DC. prodr. 1. p. 45. C, ficarioides,
Pursh; f l . 2. p. 309. C. palustris 0. DC. 1. c? Ranunculus Ficaria, Walt.
Car. p. 159? j
<5. ftdbellifolia: stem procumbent; leaves all petioled, broadly reniform,
the lobes widely spreading.—C. dentata, Muhl cat. C. flabellifolia, Pursh !
fl. 2. p. 390. , ■ ■ . ;
Swamps, Canada! to South Carolina, and west to the. Pacific ! April-
May.—Stem mostly erect, , rather thick and succulent (in S. more sleh-
der), 6-10 inches high, corymbosely or dichotomously branched above (except
in y.). Radical leaves 2-4 inches broad, on petioles 3-8 inches or more
in length, crenately or acutely dentate, or quite entire. Flowers few, 1-14
inch in diameter (in <!. smaller), pedunculate, bright yellow. Carpels oblong,
somewhat recurved, mucronate with the style ; the point at first in-
flexed, but at length nearly straight.
2. C. asarifolia (DC.): stem nearly erect, 1-flowered; leaves reniform-
cordate with the sinus obtuse, crenate; sepals 6-7, oval. DC.! syst. 1. p.
309. (v. s. in herb. Lamb.)
Unalaschka and the Aleutian Isles.—Stem weak, longer than the leaves.
Leaves 12-15 lines long, 2 inches broad ; those of the stem nearly sessile.
Sepals yellow, like those of C. palustris, but smaller. DC.—Scarcely
more than a variety of C. palustris, and apparently identical with the var.
minor of De Candolle.
3. C.natans (Pallas): stem procumbent, floating; leaves reniform-cor-
date, crenate, with the lobes somewhat approximated, obscurely crenate towards
the base, toothed towards the summit; sepals oval; carpels.with a
straight beak. DC. prodr. 1. p. 45; Hook.Jl. Bor.-Am. l. p. 22.
Creeping on the surfacedf deep sphagnous swamps, in the woody, central
districts of British America, from Canada to lat. 60s; rare. Dr. Richardson.—
Flowers white, not half as large as in C. palustris. Rook. Capsules
in a dense head; anthers oval. R. Br.
4. C. arctica (R. Brown) : stem creeping; leaves reniform, repandly
crenate, obtuse; carpels (12-16) imbricated; stigma persistent, with the
apex rounded; stamens 20 or more, with the anthers linear. R. Br. in
Parry's 1 stvoy. app. p. 265; Hook.Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 22.
Melville Island, and coast of the Arctic Sea.—Flowers yellow. Near C.
radicans, and by its creeping stem allied to C. natans. The latter hassmaller
leaves, white flowers and oval anthers.—R. Br.
5. C. leptosepala (D C .): stem 1-leaved or naked, 'mostly 1-flowered ;
radical leaves on long petioles, ovate-cordate, obscurely crenate; sepals 8- 10,
oblong; pistils 8-15.—DC.! syst. 1. p. 310, (v. s. in herb. Lamb.)-,
Hook. Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 22. t. 10. C. sagittata, T o r r .! in ann. lyc. New-
York,2.p. 164. (excl. syn.)
North West America, and Rocky Mountains, south to lat. 40°!—A span
high.' Scape? l-(rarely 2-) flowered, ^smaller than in C. palustris. Sepals white.
Carpels 8-10, oblongs Styles none, or very short; stigma obtuse, recurved.
6. C. bvflora (DC.): stem with a single leaf, 2-flowered; radical leaves
petioled, reniform, crenate, with a very broad sinus; sepals oblong. DC.
syst. l.p . 310; Hook.Jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 22.
North West America.—Sepals rather acute, broader and shorter than in
the preceding species. Carpels 3-16, acuminate with the style. DC.—Perhaps,
as Hooker intimates, not distinct from C. leptosepala.
9. TROLLIUS. Linn. ; DC. syst. l.p . 311.
Sepals 5-10-15, deciduous, petaloid. Petals 5-20, small, 1-lipned. tuba