1432 



RANUNCULUS* cnHicus ; var. niacropliyllus. 

 Large-leaved Candian C7'Oufoot. 



POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA. 



Nat. ord. Ranunculace.t. Jiiss. — {Introduction to the natural system 

 of Botany, p. 6.) 



RANUNCULUS L. — Calyx 5-sepahis, sepalis basi non solutis deciduis. 

 Pctnla 5, rarius 10, inti'is basi squaniulu foveolave ncctaritera instriicta. 

 Stainuia uvariM\\w indefinita. Caryopsides ovaton, subcompressa), in mucro- 

 neiii aut cornu scmine vix longius desinentes, loeves striatoc aut tuberculatoe, 

 in capilulum globosuin cylitidraceumve dispositae. — De Cand. syst. 1. 231. 



II. creticus ; foliis cauleque molliter subhirsutis, radicalibus petiolatis cor- 

 datis orbiculatis subincisis dentatis, caulinis sessilibus tripartitis, lobis 

 obloiigis obtusis apice subdentatis, caule ranioso inultifloro, calyce ap- 

 presso. De Cand. prodr. 1. 29. 

 II. creticus latifolius. Clus. hist. 1, p. I'i'd.f. 1. 



R. creticus. Linn. sp. 115. Willd. sp. 2. 1313. De Cand. syst. 1. 264. 

 /3. macrophyllus ; foliis minus villosis, majoribus, profundiCis lobatis, dentibus 



paulo rotundioribus. De Cand. I. c. 

 K macrophyllus. Desf.Jl. atl. \. 431. 



Folia radicalia orbiculata, cordata, longe petiolata, lobata, subduplicato- 

 dentata, pilosa, prcesertim subtus ct in petiolo ubi pili patentes sunt. Caulis 

 ascendens, 2-pedalis, teres, pilosus. Folia caidina subsessilia, tripartita, 

 dcntata ; florulia tripartita, integerrima. Cn\y\ patens, sepalis acuminatis, 

 pilosis. Petala oblonga, basi attenuata^ obtusa, calyce triplo longiora. 



This is well figured by Clusius, and a representation of 

 it is said, by M. Ue Candolle, to exist among Aubriet's 

 drawings in the Museum at Paris : that which we now 

 pubhsh is the first coloured figure. 



• Some think, as these plants are called Ranunculus in L:itin, which is 

 evidently derived from rana, a frog, and also pxT^ux,iov in Creek, which 

 signiHes the same thing, that their name has been formed in consc^pu-nce 

 of their growing in moist or marshy places. But Smith remarks, that the 

 original /iuT^u^tov i.s Ranunculus asiuticus, which inhabits dry corn-tields : 

 hence ho infers that the name refers to the divisions in the leaves, which 

 resemble a frog's foot. 



