THALAMIFLOR/: AI 
of water plants which are continually being set in 
motion by the current, and in most the ribbon-growth 
is well developed. 
The flowers stand up above the water, and scattered 
about amongst the delicately divided leaflets present 
an exceptionally chaste appearance. Unlike the 
land buttercups, the water buttercups have white 
flowers with yellow anthers. 
The stems are long, limp, often hollow and suc- 
culent, shiny and branched, and spring from roots in 
the mud, and several rootlets also spring from higher 
portions of the stem. The leaves, as has been shown, 
are of two kinds. There are membranous stipules, 
which are broad and rounded. The peduncles are 
not so long as the leaves or little longer, and there is 
a leaf opposite each, one flower being borne on each. 
The flowers already described are half an inch or 
more across. The petals are obovate and a yellow 
gland is situated at their base, the sepals being much 
shorter. The stamens are numerous and longer 
than the pistil. The fruit is an achene, which is 
usually hairy. 
The anthers ripen first. Insects settle upon the 
flowers, as in the Anemone, and help to carry pollen 
to another plant. The achenes are dispersed by the 
_ water. | 
CREEPING CROWFOOT (Ranunculus repens). 
The Latin name Ranunculus is a particularly apt 
term to apply to so damp-loving a plant as the 
