4 THANSACTIONS OF THE [oCT. 3, 



ferous, &o far as I know, occurring- from western Ontario to 

 British Columbia, ami soutli in the Eocky Mountain region to 

 Arizona and New Mexico. It is readily distinguishable from 

 B. repens by its larger leaves, stronger habit, obovate petals 

 scarcely or not at all longer than the reflexed sejKds, and almost 

 marginless, slightly larger and Hatter achenes, which are tipped 

 with a shorter, slightly stouter style. 



B. hispidus of Michaux is, as will be shown, one of the long- 

 styled plants included by Dr. Gray in B. mptenirioiialiH. 



B. Macoanii has its nearest affinity in B. Fentn^iih-anivus which 

 differs in its erect stem, smaller flowers, more linel}' divided 

 leaves with still narrower segments and oblong or cylindric 

 head of more numerous and smaller acheues, and is of eastern 

 distribution. 



3. Ranunculus hispidus Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i. 821 (1803). 



I have seen the tj'pe of this plant in Michauxs Herbarium at 

 the Jardin des Plantes, and it is clearly a common plaiit of the 

 Eastern and Middle States and not at all the western s^jecies 

 called hi^/>idu!< by Hooker, which Michaux, in all probability, 

 never saw, Dr. Gray's remarks (Proc. Amer. Acad. xxi. 375] 

 to the contrary notwithstanding. It is an early-blooming 

 woodland species, often Howering about New York as early as 

 April 15th, and much before any of the other buttercviijs. It 

 is not stoloniferous so far as I have observed; the young stems 

 are usually densely villous-pubescent but become gla))rate or 

 appressed-pubescent in age; the roots are numerous, thick and 

 fleshy, the leaves are pinnately three-divided (very rarely pin- 

 nately five-divided), very i^ubescent, at least when young, the 

 segments ovate, oblong or obovate, nearly cuneate at the base, 

 and sharply cleft and lobed; the flowers are a half irich to one 

 and one half inches broad, with petals considerably louger 

 than the spreading sepals ; (usuall^^ twice as long) the head of 

 fruit is usually somewhat longei- than thick, tfiough often 

 globose; the achenes are nearly orbicular, lenticulai , narrowly 

 margined and, when mature, abruptly tipped by a subulate- 

 curved style of about one-half their length. 



The species was taken for yi'. /rrsv/r'^/or/s Muhl., by Sdih cht- 

 endahl, Auiinad. ii. 30, t. II., (bSltt), who gives a veij good 

 figure of it, and it was also so-called by Austin, Leggett and 

 other New York botanists. In Torrey and Gray's Flora, N. A. 

 and in Torrey Flora, N. Y. , it aj)!)* ared as B. rejx'iis, var. 

 Jllari/landicax. In my catalogue of tiie Plants of New Jersey it 

 api)eared as B. fcmdoularu, and I take this opportunity of stating^ 

 that so far as I know, ii'. fa.-<cictdariii does not occur in that 



