2 RANUNCULACE^. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 



Division I. POLYPETALOUS EXOGENOUS PLANTS. 



Floral envelopes double, that is, consisting of both calyx and co- 

 rolla ; the petals not united with each other.* 



Order 1. RANUNCUL.ACEJE. (Crowfoot Family.) 

 Herbs (or woody vines') with a colorless acrid juice, polypetalous, or apeta- 

 lous with the calyx often colored like a corolla, hypogynous ; the sepals, petals, 

 numerous stamens, and many or few (rarely single) pistils all distinct and 

 unconnected. — Flowers regular or irregular. Sepals 3-15. Petals 3- 

 15, or wanting. Stamens indefinite, rarely few: anthers short Fruita 

 either dry pods, or seed-like (aehenia), or berries, 1 - several-seeded. 

 Seeds anatropous, with fleshy albumen and a minute embryo. — Stipules 

 none. Leaves mostly dissected, their stalks dilated at the base. (A large 

 family, mostly of acrid plants, some of them acrid-narcotic poisons.) 



Synopsis of the Genera. 



Tribe I. CLEMATIDEJE. Sepals valvate in the bud, or with the edges bent inwards. 

 Petals none, or small and stamen-like. Aehenia numerous, tailed with the feathery or 

 hairy styles. Seed solitary, suspended. — Vines : leaves all opposite. 



1. ATRAGENE. Petals several, small, and resembling sterile stamens. 



2. CLEMATIS. Petals non«. 



Tribe II. ANEMONES. Sepals imbricated in the bud. Petals none, or very small 

 and stamen-like. Aehenia numerous or several. Seed solitary. — Stem-leaves often op- 

 posite or whorled, forming an involucre. 



* Seed suspended. 



8. PULSATILLA. Aehenia bearing long plumose tails. Petals resembling sterile stamens. 



4. ANEMONE. Aehenia merely pointed, numerous, not ribbed nor inflated. InTOlucre re- 



mote from the flower, and resembling the other leaves. 



5. HEPATICA. Aehenia several, not ribbed. Involucre close to the Sower, of 3 simple leaves, 



and resembling a calyx. 



6. THALICTRUM. Aehenia i - 10, ribbed, grooved, or inflated. Involucre none, or leaf-like. 



* # Seed erect. 



7. TUAUTVETTERIA. Aehenia inflated and 4-angled. Involucre none. 



Tribe III. RAKUKCULEai. Sepals imbricated in the bud. Petals evident, often 



with a scale or pore inside. Aehenia numerous. Seed solitary. 

 R. RANUNCULUS. Sepals not appendaged. Aohenia in a head. Seed erect. 



9. MYOSURUS. Sepals spurred at the base. Aehenia in a long spike. Seed suspended. 



Trke IV. HELLEBORINEJ:. Sepals imbricated in the bud, deciduous, rarely 

 persistent, petal-like. Petals [nectaries of the earlier botanists) tubular, irregular, or 

 2-lipped, often none. Pods (follicles) few, rarely single, few -Be feral-seeded. — Leaves 

 all alternate. 



# Flower regular. Pods several-ssederl. Herbs. 



10. ISOPYRUM. Petals none (in our species). Pods few. Leaves compound- 



11. CALTHA. Petals none. Pods several. Leaves kidney -shaped. 



* In many exceptional cases some species or some genera belonging to polypetalous orders 

 are destitute of petals , as Clematis, Anemone, our Isopyrum, and other plants of the Crow- 

 foot Family. 



