Dr Graham's Description of' Netv or Rare Plantn. 187 



Description Boot fibrous, crown throwing out many stems. Stems (3 



or 4 inches long) spreading, angular, reddish, branched. Leaves pinnate, 

 indistinctly pubescent on both sides, somewhat fleshy ; leafets suboppo- 

 site, on the root-leaves (which are about 2 inches long) about ten pairs, 

 cordato-rotund, on the stem-leaves fewer and oblongo-ovate, terminal 

 leafet on both obovate and free. Petioles more distinctly pubescent than 

 the leatets, grooved on their upper surface. Flowers paniculato-corym- 

 bose, terminal, nearly inodorous, peduncles generally 2-flowered, some- 

 what drooping. Peduncles and pedicels tUiibrm, and, as well as the calyx 

 and stem, glanduloso-pubescent. Calgx 5-cleft, reddish, segments blunt. 

 Corolla; limb blue, with obscure darker veins ; segments blunt, indis- 

 tinctly crenate ; faux yellow, with a white border ; tube yellow, darker 

 upwards, angular, smooth without, hairy on the inner side. Stamens 

 shorter than the corolla ; valves sublinear, hairy ; filaments smooth, 

 colourless ; anthers subrotund, bilobular, white. Germen green, subro- 

 tund, trio-oncus ; style filiform, e(iual in length to the stamens ; stigma 

 3- cleft, revolute, subacute, as well as the style white. 

 This pretty little species, approaching in its characters to P. Meaicanum, 

 was raised trom seeds presented to the Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, by 

 Mr Drummond, and flowered in May. From the same channel seeds 

 were liberally distributed to other establishments, and I have seen the 

 plant in the Botanic Garden of Glasgow, and in the garden of Mr Neill. 

 It is very deserving of cultivation among alpine plants. The perfume 

 is only considerable, if ever it be, in certain states of the atmosphere. 

 AVhen I examined it, I rejoiced that its value was not diminished by 

 the oppressive fetor remarkable in others. 

 The specific name rests u])on the authority of a specimen sent by Worm- 

 skiold to Dr Hooker, whose extensive herbarium is rendered doubly va- 

 luable by the liberality with which every intbrmation to be derived 

 from it is communicated. Were I to dwell upon this, it would only be 

 because the acknowledgment would afford a personal gratification to my- 

 self, for it is known to every botanist. 



Ranunculus affinis. 



R. affinis ; foliis radicalibus pedato-multifidis petiolatis ; caulinis sub- 



sessilibus digitatis ; lobis omnium linearibus, caule erecto 1-2 floro 



cum calycibus ovariisque pubescentibus, fructibus oblongo cylindra- 



ceis, acheniis rostro recurvo — Brown. 

 Ranunculus affinis, Broiim, Suppl. to Appendix of Parry's First Voyage, 



p. 265. 



Description Root fibrous. AVhole plant somewhat hairy, particularly 



the peduncles and calyx. Stems (6-8 inches high) erect, branched, flat- 

 tened particularly at the base, hollow. Radical leaves petioled, dark 

 wreen above, paler below, pedated, or more frequently (and both kinds 

 occur on the same plant) rotundato-kidney -shaped, flat, inciso-crenate, 

 lobes largest towards the apex, 3-ribbed, the lateral ribs branched, and 

 the central especially somewhat keeled at its termination in the petiole ; 

 petioles (Jths of an inch long) deeply channelled above. Lower caulinc 

 leaves like the root-leaves, but deeply incised and pedated. Upper cau- 

 line leaves few, sessile, embracing the stem, digitate, segments 3 to 5, 

 entire, linear-lanceolate, and having generally a slight curve laterally. 

 Calyx hairy, yellowish internally, and greenish externally, with narrow 

 yellow edges, spreading or slightly reflexed ; phylla boat-shaped, but 

 scarcely keeled, slightly reflected at the apex and margins, falling off 

 with the corolla. " Corolla yellow ; petals varying in size and shape, 

 blunt, entire, shining on the inner surface, generally nearly twice the 

 length of the calyx. Stamens shorter than the pistils. Achenia nearly 

 round, filled by the ovule, dotted, ccmipressed, collected into an oblong, 

 or, ill some cases, even on the same jjlant, a nearly globular head. Style 

 persistent, recurved, oblique. 



