CROWFOOT FAMILY RANUNCULACEAE 
YELLOW WATER CROWFOOT 
Ranunculus delphinifolius Torr. 
Water plants are as a rule rather widely distributed, 
due in part to the fact that birds which frequent ponds 
fly from one to another carrying mud, containing seeds 
or fruits, on their feet. 
on This plant is found from Maine to Oregon 
FANG: / and south to North Carolina and Arkansas. 
FNS The stems are either floating or immersed, 
) or occasionally creeping in the mud. They 
sometimes grow several feet long, branching 
frequently and often rooting at the joints. 
The leaves below the surface of the water are 
like the one shown; those above water are 
less finely divided. 
The greenish sepals of the flowers, which 
are raised above the water, are much smaller 
than the 5-8 deep yellow petals. 
Stamens and pistils are numerous 
and the fruits are akenes. 
The Common White Water Crow- 
foot, Ranunculus aquatilis L. var. 
capillaceus DC., frequents ponds and - 
slow-running streams. Its white 
flowers are produced at the surface of 
the water, and its leaves, all under 
water, are divided and subdivided into 
long soft threadlike parts which collapse 
more or less when withdrawn from the water. 
The Stiff Water Crowfoot, Ranunculus circinatus Sibth., com- 
pletes the trio of water plants in this family found in Illinois. The 
leaves are under water, sessile and with broad stipules. The divisions 
of this leaf are short and spreading into a circle, and they do not 
collapse when withdrawn from the water. 
The Oblong-leaved Spearwort, Ranunculus oblongifolius Ell., is 
a peculiar plant of stagnant ponds, ditches and small sluggish 
streams of southern Illinois below Saline county. The erect stem is 
2 feet high and much branched above. Leaves are slightly toothed 
to entire, the lower very long stalked, and vary from linear above to 
ovate-oblong below. The bright yellow 5-petalled flowers are less 
than one-half inch broad. Stamens are less than 20 and the globular 
fruits are about one-eighth inch in diameter. This is a coast plant 
from Delaware to Florida and Texas, ascending the Mississippi 
basin to Missouri and Illinois. 
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