CROWFOOT FAMILY 175 



Stem leaves in pairs; woody vines; sepals valvate. 13. Clematis. 



Stem leaves alternate. 



Leaves not decompound, mostly simple. 



Petals present, rarely absent in Ranunculus. 



Sepals spurred; diminutive annuals with elongated spike-like fruiting receptacle. 



14. Myosurus. 

 Sepals not spurred; petals with a nectary on the claw. 15. Ranunculus. 



Petals absent; leaves palmately lobed. 16. Trautvetteria. 



Leaves ternately decompound; flowers apetalous, usually dioecious. 17. Thalictrum. 



1. PAEONIA [Tourn.] L. Sp. PI. 530. 1753. 



Perennial herbs or a few exotic species woody, with ternately or pinnately compound 

 leaves and large showy flowers. Sepals 5 or 6, herbaceous and persistent. Petals 5 or 6, 

 borne with the numerous stamens on a fleshy disk adnate to the base of the sepals. Style 

 short or none; stigma crest-like, revolute, introrse. Follicles 2-5, thick and leathery, 

 several-seeded. [Name in honor of Paeon, the physician of the gods.] 



A genus of about 15 species, all but the following native of Eurasia. Type species, Paeonia officinalis L. 



1. Paeonia Brownii Dougl. Western Peony. Fig. 1761. 



Paeonia Brownii Dougl. ex Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 27. 1829. 



Perennial, somewhat glaucous herb, from thickened roots, the stems several, slightly fleshy, 

 more or less decumbent, 2-4 dm. long. Leaves mostly basal, ternately or biternately divided, the 

 divisions obovate; peduncles 2.5-5 cm. long; sepals orbicular, concave, 10-15 mm. long; petals 

 orbicular, scarcely exceeding the sepals, brownish-red, thick and leathery; follicles usually 5, 

 broadly oblong, smooth, 2-4 cm. long. 



Rocky ridges, Hudsonian and Canadian Zones; eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains and the Blue 

 Mountains, southeastern Washington south through the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada to the mountains of 

 southern California, east to Utah. Type locality: "Near the confines of perpetual snow on the subalpine 

 range of Mount Hood," Oregon. June-July. 



Paeonia Brownii subsp. californica (Nutt.) Abrams. {.Paeonia californica Nutt. ex Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. 

 Amer. 1: 41. 1838.) Closely resembling the typical species, but the leaves larger and the segments linear- 

 spatulate. Open chaparral or woods, Upper Sonoran Zone; foothills of southern California, from Monterey 

 County to San Diego County. 



2. CALTHA [Rupp.] L. Sp. PL 558. 1753. 



Fleshy perennial herbs with simple leaves and showy, yellow, white or pink flowers. 

 Sepals petaloid, large, deciduous. Petals none. Stamens numerous with short filaments. 

 Carpels several to many, sessile; ovules numerous. Fruit follicles, dehiscent on the ventral 

 suture; seeds numerous. [The Latin name for the marigold.] 



A genus of 15 species, inhabiting swamps and wet meadows, widely distributed in the arctic and temperate 

 regions. Type species, Caltha palustris L. 



Stems leafy, decumbent; flowers yellow. 1. C. asarifolia. 

 Stems scapose or 1 -leaved, erect; flowers white. 



Leaves reniform-orbicular, broader than long. 2. C. biflora. 



Leaves cordate with a shallow sinus, longer than broad. 3. C. leptosepala. 



1. Caltha asarifolia DC. Yellow Marsh-marigold. Fig. 1762. 



Caltha asarifolia DC. Syst. 1 : 309. 1818. 



Caltha palustris var. asarifolia Huth, Helios 9: 71. 1891. 



Glabrous succulent perennial, the stems often rooting at the nodes. Leaves round-reniform, 

 5-8 cm. broad, crenate, the basal long-petioled, the upper shorter-petioled or subsessile ; flowers 

 1-3; sepals 5-7, bright yellow, 15-20 mm. long; follicles sessile, about 1 cm. long, slightly 

 divergent at apex. 



Swamps and wet meadows, Boreal Zones; Unalaska to western Oregon, mostly in the coastal region. 

 Type locality: Unalaska. May- June. 



2. Caltha biflora DC. White Marsh-marigold. Fig. 1763. 



Caltha biflora DC. Syst. 1: 310. 1818. 

 Caltha malvacea Greene, Pittonia 4: 75. 1899. 



Glabrous succulent perennial, the stems bearing a solitary leaf and usually 2 flowers. Leaves 

 long-petioled, the blades round-reniform, usually broader than long, 5-8 cm. broad, crenate, the 

 sinus open or often closed by the overlapping of the rounded lobes ; sepals 6-9, mostly oblong- 

 obovate, white; follicles distinctly stipitate when mature. 



Mountain bogs, Boreal Zones; Alaska to the Olympic and Cascade Mountains of Washington and northern 

 Oregon. Type locality: collected by Menzies on the mountains of the northwest coast. June-July. 



Caltha biflora subsp. Howellii (Huth) Abrams. (C. leptosepala var. Howellii Huth, Helios 9: 68. 1891, 

 C. Howellii Greene, Pittonia 4: 79. 1899.) Plants scapose, with the flowers solitary and the leaves rather ob- 

 scurely repand-crenate. This subspecies replaces the typical species in the southern Cascades of Oregon and in 

 the Sierra Nevada, California. 



