Coptis
(from kopto, to cut; in reference to the numerous divisions of the leaves). ORD. Ranunculaceae. Very pretty little hardy evergreen bog plants, thriving well in a moist peat or very sandy moist soil. They may be propagated either by division of the roots, or by seed.
C. asplenifolia (Asplenium-leaved). fl. white; scape two-flowered, at first shorter than the leaves; petals five, very long and narrow, dilated and concave-cucullate in the middle, filiformly attenuated upwards. l. biternate; leaflets somewhat pinnatifid, acutely serrate. h. 1ft. North-west America and Japan.
C. occidentalis (Western).* fl. white; scape short, three-flowered; petals about six, not hooded. l. trifoliolate; leaflets petiolulate, broadly ovate. h. 6in. to 1ft. Rocky Mountains.
C. orientalis (Eastern). fl. white; scape about three-flowered. l. ternate, each of the divisions pinnate at base, and pinnatifid above; lobes deeply cut. h. 3in. to 9in. Japan, 1873.
C. trifolia (three-leaved).* fl. white, small; scape one-flowered. April to July. l. trifoliolate; leaflets obovate, blunt, toothed, hardly three-lobed. Roots bright yellow, fibrous. h. 3in. to 5in. Northern hemisphere, 1782. (B. M. Pl. 3.)