42 RANUNCULACE^. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 



iiEDius) met with in this country (shore of L. Ontario, and northward), a 

 span high, with flowers 3 - 5'' in diameter, passing into 



Var. reptans, E. Meyer. (Creeping S.) Small, slender, the Jiliform 

 creeping stems rooting at all the joints ; leaves linear, spatulate, or oblong (i-V 

 long) ; flowers small. — Gravelly or sandy banks ; IS'^ewf . to Penn., north and 

 westward. June - Sept. (Eu.) 



7. R. oblongifoliUS, Ell. Usually annual; stem erect or ascending, 

 often pubescent below, slender (1-2° high), diffuselij branched above and 

 many-floicered ; leaves serrate or denticulate, lower long-petioled, ovate or 

 oblong (i-U' long) J uppermost linear; flowers 3-5" broad; petals 5, bright 

 yellow, 1 -3" long; carpels minute, nlmo&t globular , the small style deciduous. 

 — Wet prairies, 111., Mo., and in S. States. June. 



8. R. pusillus, Poir. Stem ascending, weak, loosely branching (6-18' 

 long); leaves entire or obscurely denticulate, the lowest round-ovate or hearts 

 shaped (|' long), long-petioled, the upper oblong or lanceolate (1 -U" long) ; 

 flowers very small ; petals 1 - 5, yellowish ; stamens 3 - 10 ; carpels very turgid, 

 smooth or slightly papillose, tipped with a minute sessile stigma. — Wet places, 

 S. New York, and southward along the coast. June- Aug. 



^- -(- -i- Terrestrial, but often in wet places ; leaves mostlij cleft or divided. 

 •M- Root-leaves not divided to the verij base ; achenes marginless. 



9. R. affinis, Ti. Br. Somewhat hairy or glabrous ; low or slender, 1° high 

 or less ; leaves pedately cleft, the cauline with linear or narrow oblanceolate 

 divisions; petals light yellow, 3-4" long or smaller; lieads oblong; achenes 

 turgid, with small and mostly recurved style, pubescent or glabrous. — And 

 var. VALiDus, Gray, stouter and with more fleshy leaves, the lower mostly 

 undivided and roundish, cordate, truncate or cuneate at base, coarsely crenate 

 or more or less cleft. — Minn., Towa, north and westward. 



10. R. rhomboideus, Goldie. Low (3-8' high), hairy; root-leaves 

 roundish or rliond)ic-ov(itf, rarely subcordate, toothed or crenate; lowest stem- 

 leaves similar or 3 - 5-lobed, the upper 3 - 5-parted, almost sessile, the lobes 

 linear ; carpels orbicular with a minute beaJc, in a globose head ; petals large, 

 deep yellow. — Prairies, Mich, to N. 111., Minn., and northward. April, 

 May. 



11. R. abortivus, L. (Small-flowered C.) Biennial, ^r/a trows, branch- 

 ing, 6' -2° high ; primary root-leaves round heart-shaped or kidney-form, barely 

 crenate, the succeeding often 3-lobed or 3-parted; those of the stem and 

 branches 3 - 5-parted or divided, subsessile, the divisions oblong or narrowly 

 wedge-form, mostly toothed ; head globose; carpels mucronate, with a minute 

 curved beak ; petals pale yellow, shorter than the small reflexed calyx. — Shady 

 hillsides and along brooks, common. April- June. 



Var. mieranthus, Gray. Pubescent, roots often fusiform-thickened; 

 root-leaves seldom at all heart-shaped, some 3-parted or 3-divided ; peduncles 

 more slender and carpels fewer. — E. Mass. to 111., ]\Iinn., and westward. 



12. R. seeler^tus, L. (Cursed C.) Annual, glabrous; root-leaves 

 S-lobed, rounded; lower stem-leaves 3-parted, the lobes obtusely cut and 

 toothed, the uppermost almost sessile, with the lobes oblong-linear and nearly 

 entire; carpels barely mucronulate, very numerous, in oblong or cylindrical 



