188 Dr Graham's Description q/'Nczv or Rare Plants. 

 Ranunculus affinis, /3. 



This plant precisely resembles the last, but is nearly apetalous. It should 

 scarcely be considered even a distinct variety, for in some of our plants 

 both kinds of flowers appeared on the same stem. The plants flowered 

 in May, hiving been raised from seeds collected on the Rocky Moun- 

 tains by Mr Drummond, and presented to the Botanic Garden, Edin- 

 burgh, by Dr Richardson. 



Ranunculus ovalis. 



'R.mialis; foliis radicalibus peliolatis, ovatis, crenatis, pilosis, caulinis 



sessilibus, digitalis, laciniis linearibus pilosis ; caiilibus patulis, ramo- 



sis, pilosis ; friictibus globosis, acheniis turgidis, obovatis, nudis, vix 



rostratis. 



Ranunculus ovalis, Rafinesque-Schmaltz, in Journ. Bot. 1814, ii. 268. fide 



DC De Cand. Syst. Veget. i. 302 — Ibid. Prodr. i. 43. 



DEscRiPTiOhf — Root fibrous. Whole plant covered with long, soft downy 

 hairs. Stems (6 or 8 inches high) spreading, slightly angled, somewhat 

 quadrangular at the base, branched, hollow. Radical leaves petioled 

 (above I A inch long, 1 1 inch broad), ovate, crenate, entire, and occasion- 

 ally somewhat wedge-shaped at their base, nerved ; nerves branched, 

 and nearly equal; petioles (1,^ inch long) grooved, jiarticularly at their 

 upper and lower parts. Cauline leaves few, subsessile, digitate, seg- 

 ments from 3 to 5, entire, linear, with a slight lateral curvature, and a 

 distinct but not pi-ominent middle rib ; hairs most numerous on the 

 back. Peduncle (lengthening when in fruit to 3 inches) terminal, subte- 

 tragonous, striated, swelling a little upwards, hollow, less hair}-^ than the 

 other parts of the plant. Calyx hairy, yellowish, marked with green 

 veins on its outer surface, phylla ovate, concave internally, reflected, 

 falling otF with the corolla. Petals yellow, shining, smooth, slightly 

 emarginate. Scale of the nectary slightly reflexed and curved at its su- 

 j)erior margin. Achenia obscurely dotted, smooth and shining, obovate, 

 turgid, obliquely tipped by the small recurved marcescent style, col- 

 lected into a rounded capitulum. 

 This plant (whicli is placed by De CandoUe both in the Systema and Pro- 

 dromus among the species imperfectly known) was raised at the Botanic 

 Garden from seeds collected on the Rocky Mountains by Mr Drum- 

 mond. It flowered in May. 



Ranunculus Schlechtendalii. 



R. Schlechtendalii ; foliis radicalibus petiolatis, 3-purtitis, incisis, pilosis, 

 laciniis cuneatis, cUiatis, apidbus mucronulato-callosis ; caulinis pe- 

 tiolatis, laciniis ovato-lanceolatis, integris, pilo.sis : caule erecto, ra- 

 moso, piloso: fructibus globiilaribus, acheniis nudis, rostro suberecto. 

 Ranunculus Schlechtendalii, Hooker, MS. 



Ranunculus fascicularis, Schlechtemtal, Animadversiones Botanica; in 

 Ranunculeas CandoUii, Sectio posterior, 30. t. 2 — non Muhl. 



Description Root of many strong fibres. Whole plant hairy. Stems (8-9 



inches high) oblique, flattened, branched, hollow. Radical leaves petioled, 

 veined, and veins channelled on both sides, especially on the up| er, tri- 

 partite, the central lobe trifid, the lateral deeply divided into two se- 

 condary lobes, each of which is again cut into two or three minor lobes ; 

 jietioles (14 inch long) channelled above, round below. Lower cauline 

 leaves very much resembling the radicle, but segments longer and more 

 entire. Upper caidine leaves few, always less divided, and lobes of- 

 ten entire, more and more departing from the form of the radical leaves 

 as they ascend, and those nearest the flower nearly sessile, lanceolate or 

 linear-lanceolate. Peduncle (sometimes elongated to 4 inches) occasion- 

 ally rising almost from the root, and then very much resembling the 

 stem in shape and jjubescence, when terminal more smooth and rounder. 

 Calyj; hairy, at first green, and afterwards yellow, falling ofi" with the 

 corolla; phylla elliptical, folded backwards upon themselves and the 



