8 RAXUNCULACE.E. - Ranunculus. 



ovate or globular. PI. Hartw. 295. R. dissectus, Hook. & Am., Bot. Beech. 

 316. JR. acris, var., Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 21. R. delphinifolius ? ib. 659 (not 

 HBK.). 



Var. canus. Softly canescent throughout. R. canus, Benth. PI. Hartw. 294. 



This is by far the most common and abundant species in the State, and is particularly abun- 

 dant in the coast ranges, where low grassy hills are often yellow with the shining flowers in early 

 spring. This species is very variable in most of its parts. The pubescence varies with the local- 

 ity, and also with the year ; the plant being more hairy in dry years. The leaves vary greatly in 

 the degree of their division ; they are sometimes simply 3-lobed, sometimes dissected into nu- 

 merous linear divisions, and are found in every intermediate gradation. The flowers are usually 

 bright sulphur-yellow, but are sometimes found quite pale. R. canus, Benth., is thought by 

 Professor Gray to be probably R. occidentalis, Nutt. ; but the fruit is unknown. 



13. R. repens, Linn. More or less hairy : stems ascending, usually not more 

 than 10 to 15 inches long, and in the typical form often forming long runners : roots 

 a cluster of somewhat thickened fibres : radical leaves variously ternately divided ; 

 the leaflets either sessile or stalked, and variously laciniately cut or divided : flowers 

 6 to 10 lines in diameter ; petals usually 5 to 7, obovate and longer than the spread- 

 ing sepals : akenes flattened, margined, 1 lines long, the stout beak nearly half 

 as long : heads compact and globular. 



This variable species stands between R. Californicus and R. macranthus, its varieties passing 

 into those species by a complete succession of forms. The connecting forms, however, are not 

 Californian. The species is rare here, and it is questionable whether the typical form has yet 

 been found in the State. It really belongs more eastward. The two others mentioned, while 

 more limited in range, are vastly more abundant here. It extends across the continent and to 

 Europe. 



1 4. R. macranthus, Scheele. More or less hairy with spreading hairs : root 

 as in the last : stems stout, erect, 2 to 4 feet high : radical leaves 1 2-ternately di- 

 vided ; the leaflets laciniately toothed or lobed : flowers 14 to 18 lines in diameter : 

 petals commonly 5 or 6, broadly obovate, deep shining yellow, twice as long as the 

 closely reflexed sepals : akenes flattened, but hardly margined, 1 \ lines long ; the 

 subulate beak nearly as long ; crowded into an ovate-globose head. Watson, Bot. 

 King. 9. 



Moist soils from Oregon to Nevada and Texas. In this State near the coast. This is the 

 largest and stoutest of all our species ; is sometimes over 5 feet high (Kellogg), and also has the 

 largest flowers. As in the other species of this section, the leaves are very variable as to division 

 and pubescence. Specimens from Texas are more hairy, and the petals are more numerous and 

 narrower than in ours. 



15. R. Nelsonii, var. tenellus, Gray. Sparingly pilose : stems erect, 1| to 2 

 feet high, rather slender : radical leaves either trifoliolate, with the leaflets cuneate 

 at the base and laciniately 3 to 5-cleft, or else simply cleft and with the divisions 

 again cut into lobes : petals usually 5, 1 to 3 lines long, exceeding the hairy, strongly 

 reflexed sepals : akenes a full line long, flattened, with a short stout curved beak : 

 heads globular, 3 lines in diameter. Proc. Am. Acad. viii. 374. R. tenellus, 

 Nutt. ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. i. 23. 



Sierra Nevada near Yosemite, Bolander. The typical form is a more robust plant, the simple 

 radical leaves often 3-4 inches in diameter. It ranges from Oregon to Alaska. Our variety has 

 a more slender habit, the radical leaves two inches or so in diameter, the peduncles quite slender 

 and 1-4 inches long. The small flowers easily distinguish it from the other species of this group. 



5. Akenes hispid-roughened : annual : otherwise as in 4. ECHINELLA, DC. 



16. R. hebecarpus, Hook. & Arn. Somewhat pilose, with spreading hairs : 

 stems ascending, slender, 6 to 18 inches high : lower leaves ternate or 3-parted ; the 

 leaflets cuneate at base, and 2 to 3-lobed ; upper ones more divided : petals 5, a line 

 or less long : sepals hairy, about equalling the petals : akenes few in a head, a line 

 or less long, rounded, flat, the sides rough with short scattered hairs : heads globu- 

 lar, 2 lines in diameter. Bot. Beech. 316. R. parviflorus, var., Torr. & Gray, 

 Fl. i. 25. 



