10 ranunculace^e. (crowfoot family.) 



13. B. rcpcns, L. (Creeping Crowfoot.) Low, hairy or nearly 

 glabrous ; stems ascending, and some of them forming long runners ; leaves 3-divid- 

 ed ; the divisions all stalked (or at least the terminal one), broadly wedge-shaped 

 or ovate, unequally 3-clcft or parted and variously eut ; peduncles furrowed ; 

 petals obovate, much larger than the spreading calyx ; carpels strongly margined, 

 pointed by a stout straightish beak. — Moist or shady places, wet meadows, &c, 

 May - Aug. — Extremely variable in size and foliage, commencing to flower by 

 ii) night stems in spring before the long runners are formed. Flowers as large 

 as those of No. 12, or often larger. (Eu.) 



14. B. eulbosus, L. (Bulbous Crowfoot, Buttercups.) Hairy, 

 stem erect from a bulb-like base; radical leaves 3-divided; the lateral divisions ses- 

 sile, the terminal stalked and 3-parted, all wedge-shaped, cleft and toothed ; pedun- 

 cles furrowed ; petals round, wedge-shaped at the base, much longer than the 

 reflexed calyx; carpels tipped with a very short beak. — Meadows and pas- 

 tures ; very abundant only in E. New England ; seldom found in the interior. 

 May -July. — A foot high. Leaves appearing as if pinnate. Petals often 6 or 

 7, deep glossy yellow, the corolla more than an inch broad. (Nat. from Eu.) 



15. B. Acris, L. (Tall Crowfoot, Buttercups.) Hairy; stem 

 erect ; leaves 3-divided ; the divisions all. sessile and 3-cleft or parted, their seg- 

 ments cut into lanceolate or linear crowded lobes; peduncles not furrowed; 

 petals obovate, much longer than the spreading calyx. — Meadows and fields. 

 June -Aug. — Plant twice the height of No. 14, the flower nearly as large, but 

 not so deep yellow. — The Buttercups are avoided by cattle, on account of their 

 very acrid juice, which, however, being volatile, is dissipated in drying, when 

 these plants are cut with hay. (Nat. from Eu.) 



* * Achenia beset with rough points or small prickles : annuals. 



16. B. muricatus, L. Nearly glabrous; lower leaves roundish or reni- 

 form, 3-lobed, coarsely crenate ; the upper 3-cleft, wedge-form at the base ; 

 petals longer than the calyx ; carpels flat, spiny-tuberculate on the sides, strongly 

 beaked, surrounded with a wide and sharp smooth margin. — Eastern Virginia 

 and southward. (Nat. from Eu.) 



17. B. parvifl6rus, L. Hairy, slender, and diffuse ; lower leaves round- 

 ish-cordate, 3-cleft, coarsely toothed or cut ; the upper 3 - 5-parted ; petals not 

 longer than the calyx ; carpels minutely hispid and rough, beaked, narrowly mar- 

 gined. — Norfolk, Virginia, and southward. (Nat. from Eu.) 



9. MYOSIIBUS, Dill. Mouse-tail. 



Sepals 5, spurred at the base. Petals 5, small and narrow, raised on a slen- 

 der claw, at the summit of which is a nectariferous hollow. Stamens 5 - 20. 

 Achenia numerous, somewhat 3-sided, crowded on a very long and slender 

 spike-like receptacle (whence the name, from p>vs, a mouse, and ovpd, a tail) , 

 the seed suspended. — Little annuals, with tufted narrowly linear-spatulate root- 

 leaves, and naked 1 -flowered scapes. Flowers small, greenish. 



1. Iff. minimus, L. Carpels blunt. — Alluvial ground, Illinois and 

 Kentucky, thence south and west. (Eu.) 



