124 NATURAL HISTORY BULLETIN. 



Ranunculus ovalis Raf. Proc. Dec. 36. 1814. 

 Prairie Crowfoot. 



Stem 4-16 inches high, hairy, somewhat branched; root- 

 leaves roundish to rhombic-ovate, toothed or crenate, others 

 3-5-lobed or 3-5-parted, the upper sessile or nearly so; 

 petals large, deep yellow; head of fruit spherical; achenes 

 oval or orbicular, minutely beaked. Ranunculus rhom- 

 boideus Goldie, Edinb. Phil. Journ., vol. 6, p. 329. 1822. 



A vernal species of the fields and prairies, ranging from 

 Labrador and Ontario to the Northwest Territory 7 , Illinois 

 and Wisconsin, and coming within our limits only in the 

 northern portion. Our specimens were collected in Winne- 

 shiek, Fayette, and Emmet counties. The State Univer- 

 sity herbarium has specimens from Calhoun and Lyon 

 counties, and Prof. Bessey has reported the species from 

 Floyd county. 



Bessey, Contr. to the Flora of Iowa in Fourth Report of Iowa Agr. 

 Col., p. 91, 1872; Arthur, Contr. to the Flora of Iowa, p. 5, 1876; Flora of 

 Floyd county in History of Floyd county, p. 310; Fink, Proc. Iowa 

 Acad, of Sciences, vol. 4, p. 83; Fitzpatrick, Proc. Iowa Acad, of 

 Sciences, vol. 5, p. 108; Manual of the Flowering- Plants of Iowa, p. 5; 

 Rigg, Notes on the Flora of Calhoun county, Iowa, p. 9; Shimek, Flora 

 of Lyon county in Iowa Geol. Sur., vol. 10, p. 170. 



Ranunculus abortivus L. Sp. PL, p. 551. 1753. 

 Small-flowered Crowfoot. 



Biennial, glabrous or nearly so, 6-20 inches high, 

 branched, conspicuous by having the primary root-leaves 

 round, heart-shaped, or kidney-shaped, obscurely crenate 

 and long-petioled, other leaves 3-5-lobed or 3-5-parted and 

 variously toothed, petioled or nearly sessile; flowers small, 

 inconspicuous, pale yellow; petals shorter than the reflexed 

 sepals. 



This species is common throughout the state in moist 

 soil in fields and woods. The flowers appear during the 

 months of April, May, and June. Our collection contains 

 specimens from Winneshiek, Fayette, Muscatine, John- 

 son, Decatur, Shelby, and Emmet counties. We have ob- 



