CROWFOOT FAMILY 



^ TUFTED BUTTERCUP. EARLY BUTTERCUP 



Rainlnculus fascicular is 



Raniinculus, a little frog, because some species live near 

 water. 



Perennial. Open woods and rocky hillsides. New 

 England, Ontario, Manitoba, south to North Carolina 

 and Texas. Common in northern Ohio. April, May. 



Roots. — Thickened, fleshy- 

 fibred. 



Stems. — Downy, generally 

 low, six to twelve inches 

 high. 



Leaves. — Dark green, long- 

 petioled, cleft into three to 

 five divisions; divisions 

 stalked (especially the ter- 

 minal one), deeply lobed, 

 and cleft; lobes oblong or 

 linear. 



Flowers. — Deep yellow, 

 about an inch across. 



Ca/jx.— Sepals five, spread- 

 ing. 



Corolla . — Saucer-shaped, 

 of five obovate petals much 

 longer than the sepals; each 

 petal with a nectar-bearing pit and a scale at the base. 



Stamens. — Many, yellow. 



Pistil. — Many carpels, scarcely margined, tipped with 

 a slender beak. 



Fruit. — Globular head of akenes; akenes flat, slightly 

 margined. 



Pollinated by flies. Nectar-bearing. Stamens mature 



before the stigmas. 



80 



Leaf of Early Buttercup. Ranunculus 

 fascicularis 



