RANUNCULACEJS. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 3 



orbicular with a minute beak, in a spherical head ; petals large, exceeding the calyx 

 (Also R. brevicaulis & ovalis, Hook.) — Prairies, Michigan to Illinois, April, 

 May. — Stems 3'-6' high, sometimes not longer than the root-leaves. Flower 

 deep yellow, as large as in No. 12. 



8. IS. afoortiviRS, L. (Small-flowered Crowfoot.) Glabrous and 

 very smooth ; primary root-leaves round heart-shaped or kidney-form, barely crenate, 

 the succeeding ones often 3-lobed or 3-parted ; those of the stem and branches 

 3 - 5-parted or divided, subsessile ; their divisions oblong or narrowly wedge- 

 form, mostly toothed ; carpels in a globular head, mucronate with a minute curved 

 beak ; petals shorter than the reflexed calyx. — Shady hill-sides and along brooks, 

 common. April -June. — Stem erect, 6' -2° high, at length branched above, 

 the pale yellow flowers very small in proportion. 



Var. micrantfollS. Pubescent; root-leaves seldom at all heart-shaped, 

 some of them 3-parted or 3-divided ; divisions of the upper stem-leaves more 

 linear and entire; peduncles more slender. (11. micranthus, Nutt.) — Massa- 

 chusetts (near Boston, C. J. Sprague), Michigan, Illinois, and westward. 



9. R. sceleratus, L. (Cursed Crowfoot.) Smooth and glabrous ; 

 root-leaves 3-lobed, rounded ; lower stem-leaves 3-partcd, the lobes obtusely cut 

 and toothed, the uppermost almost sessile, with the lobes oblong-linear and near- 

 ly entire ; carpels barely mucronulate, very numerous, in oblong or cylindrical heads ; 

 petals scarcely exceeding the calyx. — Wet ditches : appearing as if introduced. 

 June -Aug. — Stem thick and hollow, 1° high. Leaves thickish. Juice acrid 

 and blistering. Flowers small, pale yellow. (Eu.) 



10. R. reciU'VatUS, Poir. (Hooked Crowfoot.) Hirsute; leaves 

 of the root and stem nearly alike, long-pelioled, deeply 3<left, large, the lobes broad- 

 ly wedge-shaped, 2 - 3-cleft, cut and toothed towards the apex ; carpels in a glob- 

 ular head, flat and margined, conspicuously beaked by the long and recurved hooked 

 styles; petals shorter than the reflexed calyx, pale. — Woods, common. May, June. 

 — Stem l°-2° high. 



++++++ Leaves all tcrnately parted, or compound, the divisions cleft : achenia flat. 

 a. Head of carpels oblong : petals pale, not exceeding the calyx. 



11. R. Pcmisylvaiiicus, L. (Bristly Crowfoot.) Hirsute with 

 rough spreading bristly hairs ; stem stout, erect ; divisions of the leaves stalked, 

 somewhat ovate, unequally 3-cleft, sharply cut and toothed, acute ; carpels 

 pointed with a sharp straight beak. — Wet places, common. June - Aug. — A 

 coarse plant, 2° -3° high, with inconspicuous flowers. 



b. Head of carpels globular : petals bright yellow, much larger than the calyx. 



12. R. fasciciilaris, Muhl. (Early Crowfoot.) Low, pubescent 

 with close-pressed silky hairs ; root a cluster of thickened fleshy fibres ; radical 

 leaves appearing pinnate, the long-stalked terminal division remote from the ses- 

 sile lateral ones, itself 3 - 5-divided or parted and 3 - 5-cleft, the lobes oblong or 

 linear ; stems ascending ; petals spatulate-oblong, twice the length of the spread- 

 ing calyx ; carpels scarcely margined, tipped with a slender straight or rather 

 curved beak. — Rocky hills. April, May. — Plant 5' -9' high; the bright yel- 

 low flower 1' broad; petals rather distant, the base scarcely broader than the 

 scale, often 6 or 7. 



