RANUNCULACEAE. 159 



Ranunculus bongardi Greene. Erect, 40-60 cm. tall, glabrous or somewhat 

 pubescent; leaves deeply 3-5-cleft, the lower cuneate-obovate, incisely 2-5- 

 toothed; petioles longer than the blades; flowers few, in open cymes, long- 

 pedicelled; petals 5, very small, pale yellow; akenes much flattened, hispid 

 on the faces, each with a slender circinate beak, aggregated into globose 

 clusters. 



Common in shady copses. 



Ranunculus bongardi douglasii (Howell) Davis. Similar to R. bongardi 

 but less pubescent or sometimes glabrous; akenes smooth, the beak shorter. 

 In moist places. All intergrades with the preceding occur. 



Ranunculus orthorhynchus Hook. Perennial, glabrous or sparsely ap- 

 pressed-hairy; stems erect, 30-60 cm. high, branched and nearly naked above; 

 leaves pinnately divided into 5-7 narrow cleft or incised segments, the tips 

 with white callous points; petals obovate, yellow, often purplish on the outside, 

 strongly nerved, twice as long as the reflexed oval sepals; akenes few, glabrous, 

 compressed, sharp-margined, the border shorter than the slender straight beak. 



In wet meadows. 



Ranunculus repens L. Pubescent or nearly glabrous; stems 30-60 cm. 

 long, creeping and rooting at the lower nodes; leaves often white-blotched, 

 mostly 3-parted or 3-divided, the segments rhombic-ovate, 2-3-lobed and in- 

 cisely toothed; petals obovate, about 1 cm. long, much exceeding the spreading 

 sepals; akenes obovate, tipped with a short recurved style. 



In wet meadows, introduced from Europe. 



Ranunculus pennsylvanicus L. f. Stout and tall, hirsute with spreading 

 hairs, erect, 30-100 cm. high, the root usually annual; leaves ternately com- 

 pound, the leaflets ovate, acute, 3-cleft; flowers small; petals pale yellow, not 

 longer than the sepals; akenes flat, obscurely margined, each tipped with a 

 short straight beak, crowded in a short cylindric head. 



In damp meadows, rare in our limits. 



Ranunculus oreganus (Gray) Howell. Sparsely bristly-hirsute; stems stout, 

 erect or ascending, 30-90 cm. high; leaves ternately divided, the segments 

 stalked, broadly ovate, 3-cleft, the lobes incisely toothed; petals bright yellow, 

 obovate, 6 mm. long, twice as long as the reflexed sepals; akenes in an oblong 

 or oval cluster, each with a stout straight flattened beak. 



In wet places in open deciduous woods. 



198. DELPHINIUM. LARKSPUR. 



Annual or perennial erect branching herbs; leaves palmately 

 lobed or divided; flowers showy, in a raceme or panicle; sepals 5, 

 petal-like, the upper one prolonged into a spur; petals 4, some- 

 times 2, the two posterior ones spurred, the lateral, when present, 

 small; stamens numerous; pistils 1-5, sessile, many-ovuled, 

 forming follicles at maturity. 



Roots thickened, forming irregular tubers. 



Pubescence minute, white, appressed. D. menziesii. 



Pubescence if any spreading, sometimes viscid. D. columbianum. 



Roots fasciculate, elongate, not tuber-like. 



Pedicels shorter than the flowers and fruit; flowers pale 



blue. D. glaucum. 



Pedicels longer than the flowers and fruit; flowers deep 

 blue. 



Plant 1-2 m. high; leaves thin. D. trolliifolium. 



Plant 10-30 cm. high; leaves thickish. D. bicolor. 



