RANUNCULACE^. (CHOWFOOT FAMILY.) 37 



4. ADONIS, L. Pheasant's Eye. 



Flowers destitute of involucre. Sepals 5. Petals 5-15, destitute 

 of nectar-bearing pore. Akenes nearly globular, ending in a 

 hard, beak-like style — Annual herbs, with much dissected leaves, 

 and crimson, orange, or yellow flowers. The distinctive characters 

 of our species ill-defined, and inconstant. Foliage and mode of 

 growth of all alike. 



* Inner face of tobriJel straight^ destitute of tooth. 



1. A. Palaestina, Boiss,0 Flower 0.02 m. broad, crimson. Calyx 

 smooth. Petals flattened, obovate. Spike dense, cylindrical. Carpels 

 dilated at middle, surrounded Tyy a toothed crest ; lower portion 

 tuberculated, wrinkled, upper ending in a shorty pyramidal, slightly 

 hooTced beak — Spring — Fields, Palestine. 



2. A. Aleppica, Boiss. © Flower 0.02 m. to 0.035 broad. 

 Calyx smooth. Petals flattened, spreading, obovate. Spike cylindrical. 

 Carpels oblong, wrinkled lengthwise^ tapering to a straight^ sharp heak, 

 channeled at hase, equalling them in length — Spring — Fields, from 

 Coelesyria to Aleppo, and Aintab, and northward. 



3. A. autumnalis, L. Flower O.Ol m. to 0.014 broad, 

 crimson, orange-colored, or yellow. Calyx smooth. 



Petals concave, connivent. Spike oblong. Carpels YiG, 2 

 pitted and wrinkled, ending in a shorty straight beak 

 — Spring — Fields, Syria and Palestine ; common. 



Var. erJocalycina, Post. Calyx villous — Com- 

 mon with type. ( A, eriocalycina^ Boiss.) 



* * Inner face of carpel furnished icith a tooth. 



4. A. aBStivalis, L. Flower 0.015 m. to 0.02 

 broad. Calyx smooth. Petals flattened, elliptical. Spike 

 dense, oblong, or cylindrical. Carpels ohlong-pyramidal^ 

 pitted, surrounded at hase hy a toothed crest with short 

 exterior spur. Beak ascending ; tooth distant from 

 its base — Spring — Fields, northern Syria. 



Var. squarrosa, Boiss. Spike short. Base of carpel rectan- 

 gular. Crest acute. Tooth prominent, nearly as long as deak — With 

 type. 



Var. lon§[irostra, Post. Beak of same length as carpel, 

 grooved— Aintab. Ba'albek. 



5. A. microcarpa, D.C. Flower about 0.01 m. broad. 

 Petals flattened, elliptical. Spike dense, oblong. Carpels small, 

 pitted, oblong, ending in an ascending beak. Tooth short, oUuse, at 

 base of beak — Spring — Aleppo to Moab. Above Jericho. Too near 

 A. autumnaUs. 



6. A. dentata, Del. Dioarf. Flower 0.01 m. broad, or 

 less, yellow or orange-coloured. Calyx smooth. Petals connivent 

 obovate. Spike dense, cylindrical. Carpels reticulate, wrinkled, 

 surrounded near the middle by a toothed crest, from the outer aspect 

 of which projects a spur as long as J)eah. Beak ascending, blackish. 

 Tooth near the base of beak, thick — Spring — Aleppo and Palmyra to 

 Hamath. Gaza, and southward in the Tih. 



