18 RANUNCULACE^. [Rammculus. 



are in perfection.* The two are very nearly allied in habit ; but R, nivalis may always be known by the 

 deep brown and very numerous long hairs which clothe its calyx and peduncle. My specimens of JR, fri- 

 gidus, given me by Mr. Prescott, from the Altaic Mountains, scarcely differ from this species, especially the 

 var. /3, The leaves are wedge-shaped, crenato-lobate ; the petals more or less obtusely emarginate at the 

 extremity, and the nerves are more frequently anastomosing than in R, nivalis. But again, one of my Spitz- 

 bei^en specimens has notched petals, and I fear the peculiarity of the nervation of the petals is not constant. 

 Hence, I should be much inclined to unite them, 



19. JR. Eschscholtzii ; foliis ciliatis radicalibus petiolatis, partitionibus lobatis, caule sub- 

 bifloro, calyce hirsute petalis breviore, carpellis oblique ovatis stylo ipsis breviore ter? 

 minatis. Schkckt Animadv. Sect 2. p. 16. De Cand, Prodr, v. I. p. 35. 



fi. petalis minimis vel abortivis, 



Hab. Islands of Unalaschka and St. George, N. W", America. Chamisso. Near the regions of perpetual 

 snow, on the borders of streams upon the Rocky Mountains, lat. 52° to 56°. Di'ummond. — Schlechtendal 

 has admirably described this species ; and his figiu-e differs in nothing from the greater number of our Rocky 

 Mountain specimens, except in being larger and more luxuriant in all its parts. The var. |3. above men- 

 tioned is indeed as large as the specimens in Schlechtendal's figure, but the petals are abortive. The author 

 of the ** Animadversationes" observes that it differs from R. nivalis in all the leaves being constantly ciliated, 

 (so they are in our R. nivalis,) in those of the root being always tripartite, with the divisions constantly 

 lobed, in the caJyx always sparingly clothed with fulvous hairs, and the carpels having the styles shorter 

 than themselves. Mr. Drummond's specimens are all in flower. I have not seen the fruit. 



20. R, pedatifidus; foliis subpuberulis, radicalibus petiolatis palmatim pedatisve in 

 lobes lineares integros partitis, scapo subnudo erecto uni-bifloro, calyce patente subvilloso. 

 (Tab. VIII. B.) — Smith in Rees' CycL De Cand, Prodr. v, 1. p. 36. Schkcht. Animadv, 

 Sect. 2. p. 18. 



■ Species quasi media inter iJ. nivalem vel Eschscholtzii et specimina parva R. affinis ! sed ut mihi videtur, 

 omnino distincta. Radix e fibris crassiusculis, subsimplicibus vel solummodo fibrillosis, fasciculatis. Folia 

 subciliata et parce pilosa, prsecipue sub lente ; radicalia longe petiolata, petiolo basi vaginato, membranaceo, 

 nitido, pallido, pedatim divisa, segmentis palmatis, laciniis lineari-oblongis, obtusiuscnUs. Caulis vel scapus 

 pleruraque unifoUus, digitalis in nostris examplaribus, folio sessili palmatim profunde diviso, supeme, vel 

 pedunculuSy hirsutus. Flos terminalis, solitarius, mediocris. Sepala ovalia, valde concava, patentia, extus 

 pilosa, pilis albidis nitidis. Petala 5, ovalia, calycem paulo longiora, flava. Germina in capitulum suhro- 

 tundum congesta, ovata, stylis paulo brevioribus recurvatis attenuata. 



Hab. Barren summits of the Rocky Mountains, on the eastern side of the ridge, lat. 52o to 55°. Brum- 

 mond. — This plant has been well described by Sir James E. Smith, from Siberian specimens, ^d by Schlecht- 

 endal from those gathered by Chamisso, in the Bay of St. Lawrence, on the coast of Kamschatka. Our 

 plants are from three to four inches in height, offering no variation in the numerous specimens gathered by 

 Mr. Drummond. The species is allied on the one hand to R. nivalis, Eschscholtzii, and, I may even add, to 

 R, Sabinii, but differing in the constantly pedatifid leaves ; and, on the other hand, I possess some single- 

 flowered specimens of R. affinis, which show a great affinity with it. Ripe fruit I have not seen. 



Tab. VIII. B. R. pedatifidus. Fig, 1, Pistils :—ma^i/?ed 



21. R, (wris; adpresse hirsutus vel subglaber, foliis 3-5 partitis segmentis profunde 



* This, indeedj does not hold good with the arctic speciniens, most of which have their caneate leaves at the same 

 time with the flowercu 



