8 
1. A. Caroliniana Walt. Stem 7.5 to 15 cm. high, single from a small tuber: 
root leaves once or twice 3-parted or cleft: involucre 3-parted, its wedge-shaped 
divisions 3-cleft: sepals 10 to 20, oblong-linear, purple or whitish: achenes densely 
long-woolly, in an oblong head. (A. decapetala of Am. authors, not L.)—One of the 
earliest bloomers in the valleys of Texas, blossoming in February, Var. HETERO- 
PHYLLA Torr. and Gray has the radical leaves 3-parted, 3-lobed, or almost undivided, 
the segments undivided or 3-lobed, roundish-oval, crenately serrate. (4. heterophylla 
Nutt. 4. decapetala, var. heterophylla Britt. & Rusby)—Growing with the type. 
4. MYOSURUS L. (MOUSE-TAIL. ) 
Very small annuals, with tufted narrowly linear spatulate root-leaves, 
naked 1-flowered scapes, spurred sepals, narrow petals, and numerous 
achenes crowded on a very long and slender spike-like receptacle. 
1. M. minimus L. Flowers small and greenish: fruiting spike 2.5to 5 em. long.— 
Along the low bottoms of the Rio Grande, and probably other Texan rivers. 
5. RANUNCULUS Tourn. (CROWFOOT. BUTTERCUP.) 
Annual or perennial herbs, with alternate stem-leaves, solitary or 
corymbed yellow (rarely white) flowers, petals with a pit or scale at 
base inside, and a head of numerous mostly flattened and pointed 
akenes. 
* Achenes thin-walled, striate, in an oblong head: scapose and spreading by runners. 
1. R. Cymbalaria Pursh. Glabrous: scapes 2.5 to 15 em. high, 1 to 7-flowered: 
leaves clustered at root and on joints of the runners, roundish-heart-shaped or kidney- 
shaped, crenate, loug petioled.—Sandy bottoms of the Rio Grande and other streams. 
* * Achenes crustaceous or coriaceous, nerveless. 
+ Growing in very wet places, with entire or tarely toothed leaves, glabrous or nearly 80. 
++ Petals 1 to 3 or 5, not over 2 mm, long : stamens 3 to 10. 
2. EL. trachyspermus Eng. Branching: lower leaves round-ovate, obtuse: upper 
ones lanceolate or linear-lanceolate: achenes compressed, obtuse, everywhere tuber- 
culate, in an oblong or cylindrical head.—Prairies of western Texas. 
3. R. pusillus Poir. Stem weak and loosely branching: lower leaves round-ovate 
or heart-shaped; upper ones oblong or lanceolate: achenes very turgid, smooth, or 
slightly papillose, in a globular head.—Marshy ground, especially in eastern Texas. 
A small form, with achenes more papillose-roughish, is var. LINDHEIMERI Gray 
(Proc. Am. Acad. 21. 367). 
a+ ++ Petals 5, surpassing the calyx, 2 to 6 mm. long: stamens numerous. 
4. R. oblongifolius Ell. Stem often pubescent below, slender, 3 to 6 dm. high, dif- 
fusely branched above and many-flowered: leaves ovate or oblong, serrate or den- 
ticnlate, uppermost linear : achenes minute, almost globular, and in a globular head. 
(R. Texensis Eng.)—Margins of ponds, ete. The abundant and conspicuous bright 
yellow flowers easily distinguish this from the other subaquatic species of Texas. 
+ + Terrestrial species, with variously cleft or divided leaves, and flattened smooth 
achenes surrounded by a firm or indurated margin. 
++ Style short-subulate, stigmatic the whole length, mostly persistent. 
5. R. repens L. In habit and foliage closely resembling the next species: leaves 
frequently white-variegated or spotted.—Generally only in low waste grounds near 
