roundish-cordate, 3-cleft, coarsely toothed or cut; the upper
3--5-parted; _petals not longer than the calyx; carpels minutely hispid
and rough_, beaked, narrowly margined.--Norfolk, Va., and southward.
(Nat. from Eu.)
10. ISOPYRUM, L.
Sepals 5, petal-like, deciduous. Petals 5, minute, wanting in the
American species. Stamens 10--40. Pistils 3--6 or more, pointed with the
styles. Pods ovate or oblong, 2--several-seeded.--Slender smooth
perennial herbs, with 2--3-ternately compound leaves; the leaflets
2--3-lobed. Flowers axillary and terminal, white. (From [Greek:
i)so/pyron], the ancient name of a Fumaria.)
1. I. biternatum, Torr. & Gray. Petals none; filaments white,
club-shaped; pistils 3--6 (commonly 4), divaricate in fruit,
2--3-seeded; seeds smooth.--Moist shady places, Ohio to Minn. and
southward. May.--Fibres of the root thickened here and there into little
tubers. Aspect and size of the plant much as in Anemonella.
11. CALTHA, L. MARSH MARIGOLD.
Sepals 5--9, petal-like. Petals none. Pistils 5--10, with scarcely any
styles. Pods (follicles) compressed, spreading, many-seeded.--Glabrous
perennials, with round and heart-shaped or kidney-form, large, undivided
leaves. (An ancient Latin name for the common Marigold.)
1. C. palustris, L. Stem hollow, furrowed; leaves round or
kidney-shaped, either crenate or dentate or nearly entire; sepals
broadly oval (bright yellow).--Swamps and wet meadows, common northward.
April, May.--Often called incorrectly _Cowslips_; used as a pot-herb in
spring, when coming into flower. C. FLABELLIFOLIA, Pursh, is a weak
slender form, with open-reniform leaves and smaller flowers (1' broad or
less), occurring in cold mountain springs, N. Y. to Md. (Eu.)
12. TROLLIUS, L. GLOBE-FLOWER.
Sepals 5--15, petal-like. Petals numerous, small, 1-lipped, the
concavity near the base. Stamens and pistils numerous. Pods 9 or more,
sessile, many-seeded.--Smooth perennials with palmately parted and cut
leaves, like Ranunculus, and large solitary terminal flowers. (Name
thought to be derived from the old German word _troll_, a globe, or
something round.)
1. T. laxus, Salisb. (SPREADING GLOBE-FLOWER.) Leaves 5--7-parted;
sepals 5--6, spreading; petals 15--25, inconspicuous, much shorter than
the stamens.--Deep swamps, N. H. to Del. and Mich. May.--Flowers twice
the size of the common Buttercup; the sepals spreading, so that the name
is not appropriate, as it is to the _European Globe-flower_ of the
gardens, nor is the blossom showy, being pale greenish-yellow, or nearly
white.
13. COPTIS, Salisb. GOLDTHREAD.
Sepals 5--7, petal-like, deciduous. Petals 5--7, small, club-shaped,
hollow at the apex. Stamens 15--25. Pistils 3--7, on slender stalks.
Pods divergent, membranaceous, pointed with the style, 4--8-seeded.--Low
smooth perennials, with ternately divided root-leaves, and small white
flowers on scapes. (Name from [Greek: ko/pto], _to cut_, alluding to the
divided leaves.)
1. C. trifolia, Salisb. (THREE-LEAVED GOLDTHREAD.) Leaflets 3,
obovate-wedge-form, sharply toothed, obscurely 3-lobed, scape
1-flowered.--Bogs, abundant northward, extending south to Maryland along
the mountains, and west to Iowa. May.--Root of long, bright yellow,
bitter fibres. Leaves evergreen, shining. Scape naked, slender, 3--5'
high. (Eu.)
14. HELLEBORUS, Tourn. HELLEBORE.
Sepals 5, petal-like or greenish, persistent. Petals 8--10, very small,
tubular, 2-lipped. Pistils 3--10, sessile, forming coriaceous
many-seeded pods.--Perennial herbs, with ample palmate or pedate leaves,
and large, solitary, nodding, early vernal flowers. (An ancient name of
unknown meaning.)
H. VIRIDIS, L. (GREEN HELLEBORE.) Root-leaves glabrous, pedate; calyx
spreading, greenish.--Has been found wild on Long Island, in Penn., and
W. Va. (Adv. from Eu.)
15. ERANTHIS, Salisb. WINTER ACONITE.
Sepals 5--8, petal-like, deciduous. Petals small 2-lipped nectaries.
Carpels few, stipitate, several-seeded.--Perennial herbs, with palmately
multifid radical leaves, the scape bearing a single large yellow flower
surrounded by an involucre of a single leaf. (Name from [Greek: e)~r],
_spring_, and [Greek: a)/nthos], _flower_.)
E. HYEMALIS, Salisb. Dwarf; flowers cup-shaped, 11/2' in diameter; petals
shorter than the stamens.--Near Philadelphia. (Adv. from Eu.)
16. AQUILEGIA, Tourn. COLUMBINE.
Sepals 5, regular, colored like the petals. Petals 5, all alike, with a
short spreading lip, produced backward into large hollow spurs, much
longer than the calyx. Pistils 5, with slender styles. Pods erect,
many-seeded.--Perennials, with 2--3-ternately compound leaves, the
leaflets lobed. Flowers large and showy, terminating the branches. (Name
from _aquilegus_, water-drawing.)
1. A. Canadensis, L. (WILD COLUMBINE.) Spurs nearly straight; stamens
and styles longer than the ovate sepals.--Rocks, common.
April--June.--Flowers 2' long, scarlet, yellow inside (or rarely all
over), nodding, so that the spurs turn upward, but the stalk becomes
upright in fruit.
2. A. brevistyla, Hook. Flowers small, blue or purplish or nearly white;
spurs incurved.--Red River valley, Dak.; Rocky Mts., northward.
A. VULGARIS, L., the common GARDEN COLUMBINE, of Europe, with hooked
spurs, is beginning to escape from cultivation in some places.
17. DELPHINIUM, Tourn. LARKSPUR.
Sepals 5, irregular, petal-like; the upper one prolonged into a spur at
the base. Petals 4, irregular, the upper pair continued backward into
long spurs which are enclosed in the spur of the calyx, the lower pair
with short claws; rarely only 2, united into one. Pistils 1--5, forming
many-seeded pods in fruit.--Leaves palmately divided or cut. Flowers in
terminal racemes. (Name from _Delphin_, in allusion to the shape of the
flower, which is sometimes not unlike the classical figures of the
dolphin.)
[*] _Perennials, indigenous; pistils 3._
1. D. exaltatum, Ait. (TALL LARKSPUR.) Stem slender, 2--5 deg. high; leaves
deeply 3--5-cleft, the divisions narrow wedge-form, diverging, 3-cleft
at the apex, acute; _racemes wand-like_, panicled, _many-flowered_;
flowers purplish-blue, downy; spur straight; _pods erect_.--Rich soil,
Penn. to Minn. and southward. July.
2. D. tricorne, Michx. (DWARF L.) Leaves deeply 5-parted, their
divisions unequally 3--5-cleft; the lobes linear, acutish; _raceme
few-flowered, loose_; spur straightish, ascending; _pods strongly
diverging_.--W. Penn. to Minn. and southward. April, May.--Root a
tuberous cluster. Stem simple, 6'--3 deg. high. Flowers bright blue,
sometimes white, occasionally numerous.
3. _D. azureum_, Michx. Leaves deeply 3--5-parted, the divisions 2--3
times cleft; the lobes all narrowly linear; _raceme strict_; spur
ascending, usually curved upward; _pods erect_.--Wisc. to Dak. and
southward. May, June.--Stem 1--2 deg. high, slender, often softly pubescent.
Flowers sky-blue or whitish.
[*][*] _Annual, introduced; petals 2, united into one body; pistil
single._
D. CONSOLIDA, L. (FIELD L.) Leaves dissected into narrow linear lobes;
inflorescence loosely paniculate; pedicels shorter than the bracts; pod
glabrous.--Old grain-fields, Penn. and Va.; also sparingly along
roadsides farther north. (Nat. from Eu.)
D. AJACIS, L. Flowers more numerous and spicately racemose; pods
pubescent.--Sparingly escaped from gardens in E. Atlantic States. (Nat.
from Eu.)
18. ACONITUM, Tourn. ACONITE. MONKSHOOD. WOLFSBANE.
Sepals 5, petal-like, very irregular; the upper one (helmet) hooded or
helmet-shaped, larger than the others. Petals 2 (the 3 lower wanting
entirely, or very minute rudiments among the stamens), consisting of
small spur-shaped bodies raised on long claws and concealed under the
helmet. Pistils 3--5. Pods several-seeded. Seed-coat usually wrinkled
or scaly.--Perennials, with palmately cleft or dissected leaves, and
showy flowers in racemes or panicles. (The ancient Greek and Latin
name, of uncertain origin.)
1. A. Noveboracense, Gray. Erect from tuberous-thickened roots, 2 deg. high,
leafy, _the summit and_ strict loosely flowered _raceme pubescent_;
leaves rather deeply parted, the broadly cuneate divisions 3-cleft and
incised; flowers blue, _the helmet gibbous-obovate_ with broad rounded
summit and short descending beak.--Chenango and Orange Cos., N. Y.
2. A. uncinatum, L. (WILD MONKSHOOD.) Glabrous; _stem slender, from
tuberous-thickened roots, erect_, but weak and disposed to climb;
_leaves firm, deeply 3--5-lobed_, petioled, the lobes ovate-lanceolate,
coarsely toothed; _flowers blue; helmet erect, obtusely conical_,
compressed, slightly beaked in front.--Rich shady soil along streams,
Penn., and southward in the mountains; Wisc. June--Aug.
3. A. reclinatum, Gray. (TRAILING WOLFSBANE.) Glabrous; stems trailing
(3--8 deg. long); _leaves deeply 3--7-cleft_, petioled, the lower orbicular
in outline; the divisions wedge-form, incised, often 2--3-lobed;
_flowers white_, in very loose panicles; _helmet soon horizontal,
elongated-conical_, with a straight beak in front.--Cheat Mountain, Va.,
and southward in the Alleghanies. Aug.--Lower leaves 5--6' wide.
Flowers 9'' long, nearly glabrous.
19. CIMICIFUGA, L. BUGBANE.
Sepals 4 or 5, falling off soon after the flower expands. Petals, or
rather transformed stamens, 1--8, small, on claws, 2-horned at the apex.
Stamens as in Actaea. Pistils 1--8, forming dry dehiscent pods in
fruit.--Perennials, with 2--3-ternately-divided leaves, the leaflets
cut-serrate, and white flowers in elongated wand-like racemes. (Name
from _cimex_, a bug, and _fugo_, to drive away.)
Sec. 1. CIMICIFUGA proper. _Pistils 3--8, stipitate; seeds flattened
laterally, covered with chaffy scales, in one row in the membranaceous
pods; style awl-shaped; stigma minute._
1. C. Americana, Michx. (AMERICAN BUGBANE.) Stem 2--4 deg. high; racemes
slender, panicled, ovaries mostly 5, glabrous; pods flattened, veiny,
6--8-seeded.--Mountains of S. Penn. and southward. Aug.--Sept.
Sec. 2. MACROTYS. _Pistil solitary, sometimes 2--3, sessile; seeds smooth,
flattened and packed horizontally in the pod in two rows, as in_ Actaea;
_stigma broad and flat._
2. C. racemosa, Nutt. (BLACK SNAKEROOT. BLACK COHOSH.) Stem 3--8 deg. high,
from a thick knotted rootstock; racemes in fruit becoming 1--3 deg. long;
pods ovoid.--Rich woods, Maine to Wisc., and southward. July.--Var.
DISSECTA, Gray. Leaves irregularly pinnately decompound, the rather
small leaflets incised.--Centreville, Del. (_Commons._)
20. ACTAEA, L. BANEBERRY. COHOSH.
Sepals 4 or 5, falling off when the flower expands. Petals 4--10, small,
flat, spatulate, on slender claws. Stamens numerous, with slender white
filaments. Pistil single; stigma sessile, depressed, 2-lobed. Fruit a
many-seeded berry. Seeds smooth, flattened, and packed horizontally in
2 rows.--Perennials, with ample 2--3-ternately compound leaves, the
ovate leaflets sharply cleft and toothed, and a short and thick terminal
raceme of white flowers. (From [Greek: a)kte/a], _actaea_, ancient names
of the elder, transferred by Linnaeus.)
1. A. spicata, L., var. rubra, Ait. (RED BANEBERRY.) _Raceme ovate_;
petals rhombic-spatulate, much shorter than the stamens; _pedicels
slender; berries cherry-red_, or sometimes white, oval.--Rich woods,
common, especially northward. April, May.--Plant 2 deg. high. (Eu.)
2. A. alba, Bigel. (WHITE BANEBERRY.) Leaflets more incised and sharply
toothed; _raceme oblong; petals slender_, mostly truncate at the end,
appearing to be transformed stamens; _pedicels thickened in fruit_, as
large as the peduncle and red, the globular-oval _berries white_.--Rich
woods, flowering a week or two later than the other, and more common
westward and southward.--White berries rarely occur with slender
pedicels, also red berries with thick pedicels; but these are perhaps
the result of crossing.
21. HYDRASTIS, Ellis. ORANGE-ROOT. YELLOW PUCCOON.
Sepals 3, petal-like, falling away when the flower opens. Petals none.
Pistils 12 or more in a head, 2-ovuled; stigma flat, 2-lipped. Ovaries
becoming a head of crimson 1--2-seeded berries in fruit.--A low
perennial herb, sending up in early spring, from a thick and knotted
yellow rootstock, a single radical leaf and a simple hairy stem, which
is 2-leaved near the summit and terminated by a single greenish-white
flower. (Name unmeaning.)
1. H. Canadensis, L. (GOLDEN SEAL, etc.) Leaves rounded, heart-shaped
at the base, 5--7-lobed, doubly serrate, veiny, when full grown in
summer 4--9' wide.--Rich woods, N. Y. to Minn., and southward.
22. XANTHORRHIZA, Marshall. SHRUB YELLOW-ROOT.
Sepals 5, regular, spreading, deciduous. Petals 5, much smaller than the
sepals, concave and obscurely 2-lobed, raised on a claw. Stamens 5 to
10. Pistils 5--15, with 2 pendulous ovules. Pods 1-seeded, oblong, the
short style becoming dorsal.--A low shrubby plant; the bark and long
roots deep yellow and bitter. Flowers polygamous, brown purple, in
compound drooping racemes, appearing along with the 1--2-pinnate leaves
from large terminal buds in early spring. (Name compounded of [Greek:
xantho/s], _yellow_, and [Greek: r(i/za], _root_.)
1. X. apiifolia, L'Her. Stems clustered, 1--2 deg. high; leaflets cleft and
toothed.--Shady banks of streams, Penn. to S. W. New York and Ky., and
south in the mountains. The rootstocks of this, and also of the last
plant, were used as a yellow dye by the aborigines.
* * * * *
NIGELLA DAMASCENA, L., the FENNEL-FLOWER, which offers a remarkable
exception in having the pistils partly united into a compound ovary, so
as to form a several-celled capsule, grows nearly spontaneously around
gardens.
ORDER 2. MAGNOLIACEAE. (MAGNOLIA FAMILY.)
_Trees or shrubs, with the leaf-buds covered by membranous stipules,
polypetalous, hypogynous, polyandrous, polygynous; the calyx and corolla
colored alike, in three or more rows of three, and imbricated (rarely
convolute) in the bud._--Sepals and petals deciduous. Anthers adnate.
Pistils many, mostly packed together and covering the prolonged
receptacle, cohering with each other, and in fruit forming a sort of
fleshy or dry cone. Seeds 1 or 2 in each carpel, anatropous; albumen
fleshy; embryo minute.--Leaves alternate, not toothed, marked with
minute transparent dots, feather-veined. Flowers single, large. Bark
aromatic and bitter.
1. MAGNOLIA, L.
Sepals 3. Petals 6--9. Stamens imbricated, with very short filaments,
and long anthers opening inward. Pistils coherent, forming a fleshy and
rather woody cone-like red fruit; each carpel at maturity opening on the
back, from which the 1 or 2 berry-like seeds hang by an extensile thread
composed of unrolled spiral vessels. Inner seed-coat bony.--Buds
conical, the coverings formed of the successive pairs of stipules, each
pair enveloping the leaf next above, which is folded lengthwise and
applied straight against the side of the next stipular sheath, and so
on. (Named after _Magnol_, Professor of Botany at Montpellier in the
17th century.)
[*] _Leaves all scattered along the branches; leaf-buds silky._
1. M. glauca, L. (SMALL or LAUREL MAGNOLIA. SWEET BAY.) _Leaves_ oval to
broadly lanceolate, 3--6' long, _obtuse, glaucous beneath; flower
globular, white_, 2' long, _very fragrant_; petals broad; cone of fruit
small, oblong.--Swamps, from near Cape Ann and N. Y. southward, near the
coast; in Penn. as far west as Cumberland Co. June--Aug.--Shrub 4--20 deg.
high, with thickish leaves, which farther south are evergreen.
2. M. acuminata, L. (CUCUMBER-TREE.) _Leaves thin, oblong, pointed,
green_ and a little pubescent beneath, 5--10' long; _flower oblong
bell-shaped, glaucous-green_ tinged with yellow, 2' long; cone of fruit
2--3' long, cylindrical.--Rich woods, western N. Y. to Ill., and
southward. May, June.--Tree 60--90 deg. high. Fruit when young slightly
resembling a small cucumber, whence the common name.
3. M. macrophylla, Michx. (GREAT-LEAVED MAGNOLIA.) _Leaves
obovate-oblong, cordate_ at the narrowed base, pubescent and _white
beneath; flower open bell-shaped, white, with a purple spot at base_;
petals ovate, 6' long; cone of fruit ovoid.--S. E. Ky. and southward.
May, June.--Tree 20--40 deg. high. Leaves 1--3 deg. long, somewhat clustered on
the flowering branches.
[*][*] _Leaves crowded on the summit of the flowering branches in an
umbrella-like circle; leaf-buds glabrous; flowers white, slightly
scented._
4. M. Umbrella, Lam. (UMBRELLA-TREE.) _Leaves obovate-lanceolate,
pointed at both ends_, soon glabrous, 1--2 deg. long; petals obovate-oblong,
4--5' long.--S. Penn. to Ky. and southward. May.--A small tree. Fruit
rose-color, 4--5' long, ovoid-oblong.
5. M. Fraseri, Walt. (EAR-LEAVED UMBRELLA-TREE.) _Leaves oblong-obovate
or spatulate, auriculate at the base_, glabrous, 8--20' long; petals
obovate-spatulate, with narrow claws, 4' long.--Va. and Ky., along the
Alleghanies, and southward. April, May.--A slender tree 30--50 deg. high.
Flower more graceful and cone of fruit smaller than in the preceding.
2. LIRIODENDRON, L. TULIP-TREE.
Sepals 3, reflexed. Petals 6, in two rows, making a bell-shaped corolla.
Anthers linear, opening outward. Pistils flat and scale-form, long and
narrow, imbricating and cohering together in an elongated cone, dry,
separating from each other and from the long and slender axis in fruit,
and falling away whole, like a samara or key, indehiscent, 1--2-seeded
in the small cavity at the base. Buds flat, sheathed by the successive
pairs of flat and broad stipules joined at their edges, the folded
leaves bent down on the petiole so that the apex points to the base of
the bud. (Name from [Greek: li/rion], _lily_ or _tulip_, and [Greek:
de/ndron], _tree_.)
1. L. Tulipifera, L.--Rich soil, S. New Eng. to Mich., Wisc., and
southward. May, June.--A most beautiful tree, sometimes 140 deg. high and
8--9 deg. in diameter in the Western States, where it is wrongly called
WHITE POPLAR. Leaves very smooth, with 2 lateral lobes near the base,
and 2 at the apex, which appears as if cut off abruptly by a broad
shallow notch. Petals 2' long, greenish-yellow marked with orange. Cone
of fruit 3' long.
ORDER 3. ANONACEAE. (CUSTARD-APPLE FAMILY.)
_Trees or shrubs, with naked buds and no stipules, a calyx of 3 sepals,
and a corolla of 6 petals in two rows, valvate in the bud, hypogynous,
polyandrous._--Petals thickish. Anthers adnate, opening outward;
filaments very short. Pistils several or many, separate or cohering in a
mass, fleshy or pulpy in fruit. Seeds anatropous, large, with a
crustaceous seed-coat, and a minute embryo at the base of the
_ruminated_ albumen.--Leaves alternate, entire, feather-veined. Flowers
axillary, solitary.--A tropical family, excepting the following genus:--
1. ASIMINA, Adans. NORTH AMERICAN PAPAW.
Petals 6, increasing after the bud opens; the outer set larger than the
inner. Stamens numerous in a globular mass. Pistils few, ripening 1--4
large and oblong pulpy several-seeded fruits. Seeds horizontal, flat,
enclosed in a fleshy aril.--Shrubs or small trees with unpleasant odor
when bruised, the lurid flowers solitary from the axils of last year's
leaves. (Name from _Asiminier_, of the French colonists, from the Indian
name _assimin_.)
1. A. triloba, Dunal. (COMMON PAPAW.) Leaves thin, obovate-lanceolate,
pointed; petals dull-purple, veiny, round-ovate, the outer ones 3--4
times as long as the calyx.--Banks of streams in rich soil, western
N. Y. and Penn. to Ill., S. E. Neb., and southward. April, May.--Tree
10--20 deg. high; the young shoots and expanding leaves clothed with a rusty
down, soon glabrous. Flowers appearing with the leaves, 11/2' wide.
Fruits 3--4' long, yellowish, sweet and edible in autumn.
ORDER 4. MENISPERMACEAE. (MOONSEED FAMILY.)
_Woody climbers, with palmate or peltate alternate leaves, no stipules,
the sepals and petals similar, in three or more rows, imbricated in the
bud; hypogynous, dioecious, 3--6-gynous; fruit a 1-seeded drupe, with a
large or long curved embryo in scanty albumen._--Flowers small. Stamens
several. Ovaries nearly straight, with the stigma at the apex, but
often incurved in fruiting, so that the seed and embryo are bent into a
crescent or ring.--Chiefly a tropical family.
[*] Sepals and petals present. Anthers 4-celled. Seed incurved.
1. Cocculus. Stamens, petals, and sepals each 6.
2. Menispermum. Stamens 12--24, slender. Petals 6--8.
[*][*] Petals none. Anthers 2-celled. Seed saucer-shaped.
3. Calycocarpum. Stamens in the sterile flowers 12; in the fertile
flowers 6, abortive.
1. COCCULUS, DC.
Sepals, petals, and stamens 6, alternating in threes, the two latter
short. Anthers 4-celled. Pistils 3--6 in the fertile flowers; style
pointed. Drupe and seed as in Menispermum.--Flowers in axillary racemes
or panicles. (An old name, a diminutive of _coccus_, [Greek: ko/kkos], a
berry.)
1. C. Carolinus, DC. Minutely pubescent; leaves downy beneath, ovate or
cordate, entire or sinuately or hastately lobed, variable in shape;
flowers greenish, the petals in the sterile ones auriculate-inflexed
below around the filaments; drupe red (as large as a small
pea).--River-banks, Va. to S. Ill., Kan., and southward. July, Aug.
2. MENISPERMUM, L. MOONSEED.
Sepals 4--8. Petals 6--8, short. Stamens 12--24 in the sterile flowers,
as long as the sepals; anthers 4-celled. Pistils 2--4 in the fertile
flowers, raised on a short common receptacle; stigma broad and flat.
Drupe globular, the mark of the stigma near the base, the ovary in its
growth after flowering being strongly incurved, so that the (wrinkled
and grooved) laterally flattened stone takes the form of a large
crescent or ring. The slender embryo therefore is horseshoe-shaped;
cotyledons filiform.--Flowers white, in small and loose axillary
panicles. (Name from [Greek: me/ne], _moon_, and [Greek: spe/rma],
_seed_.)
1. M. Canadense, L. Leaves peltate near the edge, 3--7-angled or
lobed.--Banks of streams; common. June, July.--Drupes black with a
bloom, ripe in September, looking like frost grapes.
3. CALYCOCARPUM, Nutt. CUPSEED.
Sepals 6, petaloid. Petals none. Stamens 12 in the sterile flowers,
short; anthers 2-celled. Pistils 3, spindle-shaped, tipped with a
radiate many-cleft stigma. Drupe globular; the thin crustaceous putamen
hollowed out like a cup on one side. Embryo foliaceous,
heart-shaped.--Flowers greenish-white, in long racemose panicles. (Name
from [Greek: ka/lyx], _a cup_, and [Greek: karpo/s], _fruit_.)
1. C. Lyoni, Nutt. Leaves large, thin, deeply 3--5-lobed, cordate at the
base; the lobes acuminate; drupe an inch long, black when ripe; the
shell crested-toothed on the edge of the cavity.--Rich soil, Ky. to S.
Ill. and Kan., and southward. May.--Stems climbing to the tops of trees.
ORDER 5. BERBERIDACEAE. (BARBERRY FAMILY.)
_Shrubs or herbs, with the sepals and petals both imbricated in the bud,
usually in two rows of 3 (rarely 2 or 4) each; the hypogynous stamens as
many as the petals and opposite to them; anthers opening by 2 valves or
lids hinged at the top._ (Podophyllum is an exception, and Jeffersonia
as respects the sepals in one row.) _Pistil single._ Filaments short.
Style short or none. Fruit a berry or a pod. Seeds few or several,
anatropous, with albumen. Embryo small, except in Berberis. Leaves
alternate, with dilated bases or stipulate.
[*] Petals and stamens 6. Fruit few-seeded.
1. Berberis. Shrubs, with yellow flowers and wood; a pair of glandular
spots on the base of each petal. Fruit a berry.
2. Caulophyllum. Herb, with greenish flowers; petals thick, much shorter
than the sepals. Ovary soon bursting; the two seeds left naked.
3. Diphylleia. Herb with white flowers; petals much longer than the
sepals. Berry 2--4-seeded.
[*][*] Petals 6--9. Stamens 8--18. Fruit many-seeded. Herbs.