240 RANALES 
of leaves and in diffuse terminal clusters. Calyx deeply 5-lobed. Stamens 
usually 5 opposite to and attached to the divisions of the calyx. 
S. annuus, L. (Fig. 5, pl. 41.) Kyawert. German Knot Grass. 
Stems 3 to 5 in. long, much branched, prostrate or partly erect, smooth 
or with very soft hairs. Leaves mostly curving backward. Calyx tube 
10-angled. Fields and waste places. Common, 
Order III—RANALES. Order of the Buttercups. Polycarpes 
The most characteristic feature of this large order, in which 
plants of widely different appearance and habits are united, is 
found in the carpels or fruits, each carpel being regarded as a sort 
of modified leaf folded so as to contain the ovules. By referring 
to the figures at the head of the Family Ranunculacee a general 
idea of these carpels may be obtained. They are most frequently 
independent, as in the buttercups, and in general they are quite 
numerous but, e. g., in the barberry the number is reduced to one. 
The insertion of the parts of the flower is for the most part 
spirally around the base of the carpels, but in some instances, 
as in the case of the common white water lily, the stamens and 
petals are inserted into the sides of the consolidated group of 
carpels which form a single globe-like fruit. In the greatest 
number of genera the flowers are regular, that is, parts of the 
same kind are alike as in the common buttercup, but in other 
genera the flowers are quite irregular (Larkspur, Aconite). 
Aquatic Plants. 
With broad heart-shaped or shield-shaped leaves and con- 
spicuous flowers . . . . . . NYMPHAEACEAE 
With whorls of dissected leaves and flowers without floral 
envelope . . . . . . . ##CERATOPHYLLACEAE 
Trees. 
With large conspicuous flowers. 
Leaf buds covered by membraneous stipules 
Ad ata ad ped Nes anal te MAGNOLIACEAE 
Leaf buds naked, leaves without stipules ANONACEAE 
Trees and shrubs with small, mostly inconspicuous flowers. 
With thorny spines below leaf axils. Carpel one 
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