I, RAITtJNCULACB^. 5 



numerous, shorter than the sepals or petals. Carpels raauy ; ovule 1, 

 ascending ; style short. Achenes capitate or spicate, apiculate or beaked. 

 — DiSTKiB. All temperate regions ; species about 100. 



1. Ranunculus sceleratus, Linn. Sjj. PI (1753) p. 551. Annual, 

 erect, 1-2 ft. high; stems aud branches hollow, deeply farrowed, gla- 

 brous. Eadical leaves |-lg in. in diam., reuiform, 3-partite almost to 

 the base ; segments obovate, cuueate, again variously lobed or notched. 

 Upper cauline leaves 3-partite, the segments narrow-oblong, entire or 

 toothed, glabrous. Petioles sheathing, those of the radical leaves variable 

 in length, from 1-6 in. long, those of the cauline leaves becoming shorter 

 upwards, glabrous. Flowex'S |-| in. in diam. Sepals oblong, about 

 equalling the petals, pubescent, caducous. Petals 4-5, elliptic-oblong, 

 white. Anthers yellow. Head of achenes cyliudric, 5-g in. long; 

 achenes small, numerous, apiculate. Fl. B. I. v. 1, p. 19 ; K. Prantl, in 

 Engl. & Prantl, Piianzenf. v. 3, part 2, p. 64, fig. 48, 0, D ; Woodr. in 

 JoLirn. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1897) p. 120 ; Watt, Diet. Ecou. Prod. v. 6, 

 part 1, p. 392.— Flowers : Eeb.-Mar. 



SiND : Banks of the Indus, common, Stocks ! ; Sukkiir, banks of the Indus, Woodrow ! 

 — DiSTKiB. Europe, N. Asia, China, N. Africa, temperate America. 



5. DELPHINIUM, Linn. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed or 

 divided. Flowers large, racemed or panicled, blue, purple, rosy or white, 

 very rarely yellow. Sepals 5, subcounate at base, the upper produced 

 into a spur. Petals 2 or 4, small, the two upper produced into a spur- 

 like appendage within the spur of the calyx, the two lateral spurless 

 or wanting. Filaments sometimes dilated at the base. Follicles 1-7, 

 sessile, free, mauy-ovuled. Seeds numerous, subfleshy. — Distrib. Tem- 

 perate zone of the N. hemisphere ; species about 40. 



1. Delphinium dasycaulon, Fres. Mus. Senckenb. v. 2 (1837) 

 p. 272. Herbaceous, erect, l|-3 ft. high; stem hollow, terete, hairy. 

 Eadical leaves large, reaching 6 in. across, reniform, 5-7-lobed ; lobes 

 trapezoidal, again variously divided, usually mucronate. Cauline leaves 

 more deeply divided into narrower segments, with a few hairs on the 

 upper surface and on the nerves beneath. Petioles sheathing, those of 

 the radical leaves very long, reaching 1 ft. in length, more or less hairy, 

 those of the cauline leaves shorter. Flowers bright blue, in lax racemes ; 

 bracts subulate, 1 at the base, and 2 alternate ones about the middle of 

 each pedicel ; pedicels about equalling the flowers. Sepals | in. long, 

 pubescent outside, marked with a white, hairy spot near the top ; spur 

 conical, about | in. long, slightly recurved, hairy outside. Petals : the 

 upper cartilaginous, the lower 2-lobed, hairy. Filaments much ddated 

 at the base. Follicles 3, straight. Fl. B. 1. v. 1, p. 25; Dalz. & Gibs. 

 p. 2; Woodr. in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1897) p. 120.— Flowers : 

 Aug.-Sept. 



A rare plant. Deccan : Junnar, Stocks \, Woodrow !, Dalzell 4~ Gibson ; Kadkala 

 20 miles W. of Pooua, Cooke ! — Distrib. Abyssinia. 



