9 
RANUNCULACEiE. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 
5. R, l’i*plans, L. (Creeping Spearwort.) Stem slender, 
prostrate , rooting at the joints ; leaves linear or lanceolate, rather ob¬ 
tuse, entire, tapering into petioles, often clustered at the joints; car- 
pels few in a small spherical head, tipped with a minute blunt point. 
(The most common slender form is R. filiformis, Michx.) Gravelly 
or muddy banks of ponds and rivers, common. June - Aug. — A 
very delicate creeping species : stems 4* -61 long, sometimes ascend¬ 
ing. Petals 5 or more, deep yellow, much longer than the calyx. 
6. R. pusillus, Poir. (Little Spearwort.) Stem slender, 
ascending or erect; root-leaves ovate or roundish , obtuse, entire, often 
rather heart-shaped, on long petioles ; the lower stem-leaves similar; 
the uppermost linear-lanceolate, obscurely toothed, scarcely petioled; 
carpels in a spherical head, scarcely pointed; stamens few. — Wet 
places, S. New York and New Jersey. July. — Stems & - 12' high, 
branched. Petals 1 to 5, often 3, scarcely longer than the calyx, pale 
yellow. Stamens 5 -10. 
7. R. Cymbalaria, Pursh. (Sea-side Crowfoot ) Stem 
sending off long runners from the base which are rooting and leafy at 
the joints; leaves all roundish , heart-shaped at the base , coarsely crenate- 
toothed, on long petioles; flower-stalks ( scapes ) leafless , 1 —5-flower- 
ed ; carpels in oblong heads , very numerous, beaked. — Seashore, 
Maine to New Jersey. Salt springs, Salina, New York. June-Aug. 
— 11 ? Runners often 1° long. Leaves rather fleshy. Scapes 3*-6' 
high. Petals 5-8, bright yellow, a little longer than the calyx. 
* * * Lower leaves undivided or merely cleft: perennial. 
8. R. l’lionibofdeus, Goldie. Dwarf, hairy; root-leaves 
rhombic-ovate , toothed or crenate; lowest stem-leaves often similar ; 
the upper 3-5-parted, almost sessile, the lobes linear ; carpels orbic¬ 
ular with a minute beak, in a spherical head ; petals large , exceeding 
the calyx. (Also R. brevicaulis, Hook.?) —Prairies, Michigan and 
Wisconsin. Apr. - May.— Stems 3>-6' high, sometimes not longer 
than the root-leaves. Flower deep yellow, as large as in No. 13. 
9. R. abortivus, L. (Small-flowered Crowfoot.) Gla¬ 
brous and very smooth; primary root-leaves round heart-shaped or kid¬ 
ney-form, barely crenate, the succeeding ones often 3-lobed or 3-part- 
ed; those of the stem and branches 3-5-parted or divided, subsessile; 
their divisions oblong or narrowly wedge-form, mostly toothed ; car¬ 
pels in a globular head, tipped with a very short recurved beak ; petals 
shorter than the reflexed calyx. — Shady hill-sides, common. Apr. - 
June._Stem erect, l°-2° high, at length branched above, the pale 
yellow flowers very small in proportion. 
10. R. recurvatus, Poir. (Hooked Crowfoot.) Hirsute; 
leaves of the root and stem nearly alike, long-petioled , deeply deleft; 
the lobes broadly wedge-shaped, 2 - 3-cleft, cut and toothed towards 
the apex; carpels in a globular head, conspicuously beaked by the re- 
