SPECIES AND VARIETIES. 185 



segments; flowers bright scarlet, with a dark spot at the base 

 of the petals ; carpels numerous, collected in ovate or oblong 

 heads. — Cornfields. Fl. July or October. 



A variety with larger flowers is cultivated in flower-gardens, 

 under the name of Flos Adonis. 



(4) Ranunculus. Crowfoot. 



* Flo wers wJi ite ; (aquat ic p Ian ts) . 



R. hederaceus : plant floating or spreading on mud ; leaves 

 roundish, ivy-like, with 3-5 broad, shallow lobes ; flowers 

 very small, white ; carpels and receptacle glabrous. — Shallow 

 water and mud. Fl. July, August. 



** Flowers yellow ; (terrestrial plants) . 

 t Leaves simple or undivided. 



R. Lingua : stem erect, hollow, 2-3 feet high ; leaves long, 

 lanceolate, smooth, entire, or with only a few small teeth at 

 the edge; flowers in a loose panicle, large, the petals bright 

 shining yellow ; carpels with a short, broad, flat beak. — Great 

 Spear wort. — Marshes and ditches. Fl. July. 



R. Flammula : stems more or less reclining at the base, 

 1-1 i foot high, with a few loose branches ; lowest leaves ovate, 

 the remainder lanceolate or linear, nearly entire ; flowers yel- 

 low, on long peduncles, seldom more than half an inch in dia- 

 meter, often much smaller ; carpels with a very short, usually 

 hooked beak. — Spearwort. Marshes and wet pastures. Fl. 

 June to August. 



Var. reptans: stems slender, creeping ; flowers much smaller. 



tt Leaves deeply cut. 

 % Carpels smooth, that is, having an even surface. 

 § Leaves smooth, not hairy. 



R. sceleratus : annual, erect, branched, about one foot high. 



