94 BUTTERCUP FAMILY 



lobes and a closed sinus. Calyx cup-shaped, 2^2 to 4 in. 

 across; sepals 7 to 12, yellow and petal-like, or the outer 

 greenish. Petals 12 to 18, y 2 in. long and resembling stamens. 

 Stamens with dark-red anthers but yellow pollen. Fruit 

 nearly globose, with narrow neck and concave summit. 



The Water Lily is a conspicuous inhabitant of quiet ponds 

 from Lake Eleanor and Hetch Hetchy to the Yosemite, Eagle 

 Peak Meadows, etc. The round leaves, known as lily pads, 

 float .on the surface of the water, above which the stout pedi- 

 cels carry the thick-sepaled, yellow flowers. The Klamath 

 Indians, of Oregon, roast the seeds, which they call wokas, 

 and eat them either dry, as we do popcorn, which they much 

 resemble in taste, or as a porridge or bread after they have 

 been ground into a meal (Coville). 



RANUNCULACEAE. Buttercup Family. 

 Crowfoot Family. 

 Herbs with alternate or basal leaves (except Clematis, a 

 climber with opposite leaves), and without true stipules. 

 Flower-parts all free and distinct. Sepals often petal-like. 

 Petals sometimes wanting. Stamens mostly numerous. Pis- 

 tils 1 to many, superior, 1-celled, each bearing a single style, 

 maturing into dry fruits or berries. 



A. Flowers without spurs or hoods, the sepals and petals all flat 



or concave. 



Leaves compound. 



Flowers white, Yi in. across; leaves opposite 1. Clematis. 



Flowers white, very small; leaves alternate 8. Actaea. 



Flowers greenish, very small; leaves alternate 2. Thalictrum. 



Leaves simple, entire or lobed. 



Sepals 5, green or white; petals yellow or white or re- 

 duced to greenish glands 3. Ranunculus. 



Sepals 6 to 9, white or blue; petals none 4. Caltha. 



B. Flowers either with 1 or more slender spurs or helmet-shaped. 



Petals 5, continued backward as slender spurs 5. Aquilegia. 



Petals 4, unlike; upper sepal continued backward as a spur. 6. Delphinium. 

 Petals 2; upper sepal continued upward as a helmet-shaped 



hood 7. Aconitum. 



1. CLEMATIS. Virgin's Bower. 



1. C. ligusticifolia Nutt. Leaves opposite, compound; 

 leaflets 5 to 7, ovate, broad at base, irregularly toothed, 1 to 3 

 in. long. Sepals 4, petal-like, V 8 in. long. Petals none. Sta- 

 mens numerous. Akenes many, the feathery tails very con- 

 spicuous in fruit. 



The stems of this Virgin's Bower clamber over bushes and 



