19314]  Fernald,— Variations of Ranunculus Cymbalaria — 161 
cies, the fruiting head is very variable in length (2.5-13 mm.) and the 
strongly ribbed achenes are prominently beaked and ordinarily almost 
stipitate. 
In the more arid region of the Rocky Mountains and the Great 
Basin, however,— from Assiniboia, Montana and Idaho south to 
south-central Mexico and west into Washington, Oregon and Cali- 
fornia — the plant ordinarily has heavier foliage and larger flowers 
(1-2 em. broad) and departs in a number of less conspicuous tendencies 
from true R. Cymbalaria of our more humid regions. In this large- 
flowered Rocky Mountain extreme the young petioles or the peduncles 
are often pilose; the sepals and petals are 4-9 mm. long, the stamens 
commonly in 3-5 rows and with slightly elongate anthers; the head 
of young carpels is more elongate than in R. Cymbalaria, 3.5-11 mm. 
long in anthesis, but the fruiting head is less variable in length, 7-12 
mm. long; and the achenes are usually paler in color, less strongly 
ribbed than in R. Cymbalaria and with less prominent beaks and 
broader bases. 
These characters, though clearly marking in their aggregate the 
large-flowered plant as different from the small-flowered type, are all 
variable and it does not seem possible to separate the plant specifically 
from Ranunculus Cymbalaria; but as a pronounced geographic variety 
it seems worthy of recognition. "The plant is R. tridentatus HBK., 
var. major [us] HBK.! R. tridentatus was defined as consisting of two 
varieties. The first, a minor, with “Flores erecti, magnitudine R. 
arvensis,” coming from “prope Lactacunga Quitensium (alt. 1490 hex.), 
HM 
inter saxa. punicea," as shown by several sheets from the Andes, is 
scarcely separable from R. Cymbalaria and it is so treated by R. E. 
Fries in his contribution Zur Kenntniss der alpinen Flora im nörd- 
lichen Argentinien. The second variety, 8 major, with “ Flores erecti, 
magnitudine floris R. Flammulae" and coming from “prope Carpio 
Mexicanorum, ad lacum S. Christobal, alt. 1180 hex.," is well represented 
by material from the Federal District of Mexico, Durango, San Luis 
Potosi and Coahuila, and is the large-flowered plant of our Rocky 
Mountain district. In view of the publication of R. Cymbalaria, var. 
major Hook. f. & Thomson ? from Tibet it is undesirable to create con- 
fusion by transferring to R. Cymbalaria the earlier R. tridentatus, var. 
major HBK.; so that another name for the latter plant is proposed, 
1 HBK., Nov. Gen. et Sp. Pl. v, 42 (1821). 
2 Hook, f, & Thomson, Fl, Ind, i, 30 (1855), 
