230 Mr. Charles C. Babington on Ranunculus aquatilis. 



R. sive Polyanthemo aquatili albo affine. Millefolium, Maratri- 

 phyllonfluitans. Ray, 376. 



R. aquatilis, I. Linn. 782. 8m. FL Br. ii. 596. Eng. Ft. iii. bb. 



R. fluitans. Lam. FL Fr. iii. 164. EeicTi. 719. Koch, 12. Gaud, 

 iii. 525. Blvff. ct Fing. 286. Drej. 192. 



R. fluviatiJis,S'e6/7i.l76. Wallr. 284. St. Amans,Fl. Agen. (v^r.a.) 



R. pantothrix, y. peucedanifolius, DC, Syst. i. 236. 



R. aquatilis, e. peucedanifolius, DC. Prod. i. 27. 



R. peucedanifolius, " All. Ped, No. 1469 .''" Schlech. in Linna;a 

 (1831) 576. Host. ii. 118 } Lois. i. 392. 



In rivers and also in stagnant water. I have seen it in a perfectly 

 stagnant ditch at Mildenhall, Suffolk. 



Stems thick, very long, sometimes even twenty or thirty 

 feet in length, floating near to the surface of the water, pro- 

 ducing a few fibrous roots from the lower joints, branched; the 

 internodes very long. Leaves, including their long petioles, 

 from three inches to a foot or more in length, divided at long- 

 intervals in a di- or trichotomous manner, the segments very 

 long, linear, rather flat and nearly parallel to each other ; the 

 upper leaves are often nearly sessile, and sometimes but rarely 

 divided into a few short segments %vhich are dilated towards 

 their points, not linear or narrowed towards the point as in 

 R, aquatilis when this structure occurs : very rarely upper 

 floating leaves are found which are " half trifid, truncate, and 

 broader than long^' : usually all the leaves have the same di- 

 vided structure. The stipules are narrow, elongated, and in- 

 conspicuous, except in the upper part of the plant, where they 

 are broad and sheathing. Flow^ers large, resembling those of 

 R, aquatilis. Carpels obovate, slightly gibbous, laterally 

 tipped by the short obtuse persistent straight style, trans- 

 versely wrinkled, usually, as well as the torus, slightly bristly. 



R.fluviatilis,Bige\o\v, ^Boston Flora,^ 139, which Smith 

 notices as a totally different species from this, is now referred 

 by Torrey and Gray, ^ Fl. of N. Amer.^ i. 20. to R, Purshii, 

 Rich., in ^ Hook. Fl. Br.-Amer.' 



It is probable that this species ought to have been called 

 R. peucedanifolius after Allioni ; but not being certain of the 

 correctness of that synonym, 1 have adopted R. fluitans, Linm., 

 as the next oldest and the most generally employed name. 



St. John's Coll., Cambridge, March 18, 1839. 



