g6 BUTTERCUP FAMILY 



though floating. Sepals 5, early falling. Petals 5, scarcely 

 % in. long. Akenes rough. — In ponds near Crockers. 



2. R. hystriculus Gray. Leaves mostly from the base, on 

 petioles 2 to 5 in. long; the blade nearly orbicular, J4 to 2^2 in. 

 across, with several rounded and bluntly toothed lobes. 

 Stems 4 to 10 in. high, bearing only 1 or 2 flowers. Sepals 5, 

 *4 to 24 m - lo n g Dut unequal, white. Petals reduced to green- 

 ish scale-like nectaries. Styles hooked. Akenes thin, papery, 

 loosely investing the small seed. 



This flaccid, glabrous perennial grows on shaded rocks and 

 ledges kept moist by seeping water or spray from waterfalls, 

 and is rare except near the Yosemite, where it has been found 

 at Vernal, Royal Arch, Staircase and Nevada falls, and in Lit- 

 tle Yosemite Valley. It is so unlike the other buttercups, 

 especially in its reduced petals and almost bladdery seed- 

 bodies, that some botanists place it in a genus (Kumlienia) 

 by itself. 



3. R. cymbalaria Pursh. Sea-side Crowfoot. Rarely over 

 6 in. high, some stems creeping and rooting, the flowers soli- 

 tary on naked stalks. Leaves glabrous, succulent, roundish, 

 coarsely few-toothed, % to 24 in. across, long-petioled. Petals 

 5 to 9, yellow, *4 m - or l ess long. Akenes numerous, in an 

 oblong head. — Moist or salty soil, of northern regions almost 

 around the globe. Appears at Tuolumne Meadows in the 

 var. alpina Hook., a low form with small, 3-toothed leaves. 



4. R. flammula var. reptans E. Meyer. Small glabrous 

 creeping perennial, 2 to 4 in. high, the flower-stalks terminat- 

 ing in single flowers. Leaves mostly basal, with long petioles; 

 blade ^4 to 1 in. long, linear to lanceolate. Petals obovate, 

 less than *4 m - l° n g> yellow. — Wet meadows in Hetch Hetchy 

 and Yosemite valleys, along the Pohono Trail, etc. 



5. R. alismaefolius Geyer. A glabrous perennial, 3 in. to 

 1 ft. high, the flower-stalks bearing solitary or few long-pedi- 

 celed flowers. Leaves mostly near the base, long-petioled; 

 blade lanceolate to oblong, ^ to 2 in. long; upper leaves 

 linear, sessile. Petals obovate, from scarcely *4 t0 V* m - 

 long, deep yellow, shining. — In moist soil at Hetch Hetchy 

 Valley, White Wolf, Snow Flat, Vogelsang Pass, Smedberg 

 Lake, etc. The common form with leaves mostly ovate, or 

 even cordate, and small flowers is var. alismellus Gray, the 

 original specimens of which came from Lake Tenaj'a and Mt. 

 Dana. 



6. R. oxynotus Gray. Alpine Buttercup. Stems closely 

 compacted at base, sheathed by brown remnants of the pre- 



