panicle loose ; petals resembling the filaments.—HooJc. ! jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p.
238, t. 81.
Rocky Mountains near the source of the Oregon, and at Portage River,
Drummond!—The panicle in the above-cited figure is more compound than
in our specimens, and the leaves less deeply lobed.
3. T. trijbliata (Linn.): hirsutely pubescent or partly glabrous; stem
2 - 3-leaved (rarely naked, ex Hook. ) ; leaves ternately divided or trifoliolate;
the terminal leaflet rhomboid-pvate ; the lateral somewhat trapezoidal; all
incisely toothed ; panicle slender ; petals linear-filifornj.—Linn, amcen.
acad. 2. p. 351, ip spec. 1. p. 406 ; Pursh ! Jl. 1. p. 313 ; W illd.! spec. 2.
p. 659 ; Seringe, in DC. 1. c .; Bongard, peg. Sitcha, l. c. p. 139 ; Hook.!
jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 239. T. (Anthonema) rhombifolia, Nutt. ! mss.
N- W . Coast, Menzies! Norfolk Sound, Eschscholtz ! Sitcha, Bongard; and
shady woods of the Oregon, near the coast, Douglas / Nuttall/ Mr. Tolmie !
and on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, Drummond.—This species
was founded on Siberian specimens; and Mr. Nuttall suspects the American
plant to be a distinct species: but the specimen of Pallas in Willdenow’s
herbarium is, if we mistake not, identical with ours ; and Bongard remarks
that he has compared the American plant with that from Siberia and
Sitcha, and finds them wholly the same. He also corrects the mistake of
Seringe in comparing the raceme to that of Mitella diphylla. The uppermost
leaves are sometimes deeply 3-parted or only 3-lobed ; the others with
petiolulate segments or leaflets. Stems often reclined,
4. T. laciniata (Hook.): scabrous-hirsute ; stem about 3-leaved ; leaves
3- foliolate; the terminal leaflet deeply 3-cleft, the lateral ones 2-cleft; the
segments broadly lanceolate, laciniate-pinnatifid ; panicle loose ; petals filiform
and resembling the filaments. Hook. jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 239, t. 77.
N. W, Coast, Menzies.—Segments of the calyx acute.
10. ASTILBE. Hamilton, ex Don, prodr. Nepal, p. 210.
Hoteia, Morr. Decaisne.
Calyx campanulate, or somewhat obconic at the base, 5- (rarely 4-)
parted, somewhat coherent with the base of the ovary ; the segments ovate,
erect, imbricate in aestivation. Petals 5 (rarely 4), spatulate, inserted into
the base of the calyx (sometimes none ?), marcescent. Stamens 10 (rarely
8); filaments subulate, exserted: anthers cordate, 2-celled. Ovary 2-celled,
with a central placenta: ovules numerous, ascending: styles short, at first
united at the base: stigmas obtuse, papillose. Capsule somewhat coriaceous,
2-celled; the carpels at length separable and opening longitudinally
along the inside. Seeds by abortion few (1-4) in each carpel, scobiform :
testa membranaceous, loose, attenuate at each end. Embryo cylindrical,
more than half the length of the abundant fleshy albumen :• cotyledons
thick, ovate.—Perennial herbs, resembling Spiraea Aruncus. Leaves 2-3-
temately or somewhat pinnately compound; the leaflets serrate: petioles
dilated and stipuliform at the base. Racemes spieate, disposed in a crowded
panicle. Flowers small, bracteate, yellowish-white.
We have drawn the character here given from the flowers of A. decandra, Von,
the figure and description of Hoteia Japonica, Morr. Decaisne, and from
specimens of Spiraea barbata, Wall, from Bot. reg. t. 2011, which Lindley (Bot.
reg. Novem. 1839, appx. p. 83.) now refers to Hoteia Japonica, and adduces Astilbe
rivularis, Don, as a synonym. If the genus Astilbe was founded on this plant, as
we have reason to suppose, the petals must occasionally be wanting, as indeed
Pursh remarks of our species, or they may have been overlooked; and the “ cap-
sula polysperma” may have been inferred from the numerous ovules. The resemblance
to Spircea Aruncus is so close that, according to Decaisne, the plant of
Japan is described under this name in Thunberg’s Flora Japonica; and our own
species has been confounded with that plant in herbaria.
1. A. decandra (Don! 1. c .) : calyx (always 5-parted) nearly free from
the ovary; leaflets cordate, incisely lobed and serrate, the lower surface and
petioles somewhat glandular and hairy; petals linear-spatulate.—Tiarella
biternata, Vent. hort. Malmais. t. 54; Pursh ! jl. 1. p. 313; Ell. sk. 1. p.
513 ; DC. prodr. 4. p. 51. Hoteia biternata, Morr. Sp Decaisne, in ann.
sci. nat. (ser. 2) 2. t. 11, ƒ. 11. Up 12. (the seeds.)
On the mountains of N. Carolina ! S. Carolina; and of Georgia, Dr. Mac-
bride ex Ell. June-Aug.—We find the petals in all the specimens we have
examined, although they are often small and scarcely exceeding the calyx.
11. CHRYSOSPLENIUM. Tourn.; Gcertn.fr. t. 44; Endl. gen. t. 815.
Calyx-tube coherent with the ovary; the lobes 4-5, obtuse, colored within.
Petals none. Stamens 8-10, inserted on the margin of the epigynous disk:
filaments short, subulate: anthers reniform, 2-eelled. Styles 2, distinct:
stigmas simple. Capsule obcordate, compressed, 1-celled, with 2 parietal
placentae at the base, 2-valved at the summit. Seeds numerous: testa crus-
taceous. Embryo minute.—Annual or perennial low herbs, growing in
mountain swamps and brooks, with fleshy alternate or opposite crenate leaves,
and small yellowish-green flowers.
1. C. alternifolium (Linn.): flowering stems erect; leaves alternate, reniform
cordate, doubly crenate or somewhat lobed; flowers corymbose.__
Engl. bot. t. 54; FI. Dan. t. 366 ; R. B r .! in Parry's 1st voy. suppl. p.
275 ; D C .! prodr. 4. p. 48 ; Hook. ! jl. Bor.-Am. 1. p. 241.
British North America to the Arctic Islands; and on the Rocky Mountains,
Drummond! Bay of St. Lawrence, &c., Chamisso.
2. C. Americanum (Schwein.): stems slender, decumbent, dichotomous
above; leaves opposite, the upper ones often alternate, roundish-ovate, obscurely
crenate-lobed; flowers dichotomal, distant, sessile.—Schweinitz, in
herb. Hook. ; Hook.! jl. Bor.-Am. 1 .p. 242; Darlingt. jl. Cest. p. 270.
C. oppositifolium, Michx.! Jl. 1. p. 269 ; Pursh, jl. 1. p. 269 ; Torr.! jl.
1. p. 445, not of Linn.
Shaded springs, &c. from Saskatchawan! and Northern States! to the
mountains of Carolina. April-May.—Floral leaves yellowish. Calyx
usually 4-cleft. Stamens usually 8, very short: anthers reddish-orange-
color. Seeds hispid, reddish-brown. Certainly different from the C. oppositifolium
of Europe, and a much less conspicuous plant.—Golden Saxifrage.
Water Carpet.
3. C. glechomcefolium (Nutt.! mss.): “ stems slender, ascending; leaves
(deep-green) opposite, roundish, abruptly cuneiform at the base, crenate-
dentate with numerous teeth; flowers [dichotomal or] somewhat co-
rymbed, somewhat peduncled, rather distant; segments of the calyx short
and obtuse.”—C. oppositifolium 0. Hook. ! 1. c.