PLANTS OF BERMUDA 



Class I. — Dicotyledons. 

 Stem when perennial, with one or more concentric layers of 

 ..^d and a separable bark. Veins of leaves netted. Divisions 

 fofcalyx and corolla usually four or five or some multiple of 

 I that number. Embryo with two seed leaves. 



^ Division I. — Polypetal.i:. 



I Flowers usually with calyx and corolla, the divisions of the 

 latter (petals) being distinct from each other. 



'p Sub-Division I. — Thalamiflou^. 



^ Ovary superior, the petals and stamens being inserted under 

 i e^e ovary and free from the calyx. 



V Natural Order I. — RANUNCULACiK. 



^ ("Characters given lender Natural Orders refer principally to Bermudian 



^ species.) 



5 Herbs or shrubs with radical or alternate leaves (opposite in 

 <? Clematis) sheathing without stipules. Sepals five or more. Petals 



^five or more (deformed in Delphinium). Stamens many. Carpels 

 many, free, one -celled. 



Genus I. — Ranunculus (Buttercups). 

 Annual or perennial herbs with divided leaves. Petals five, with 

 a small gland at the base. Fruit a head of compressed seed-like 

 grains (achenes). 



^ 



^ 1. Ranunculus parrijlorus. An annual. Stem slender, decum- 

 <V> bent, hairy. Lower leaves roundish, three to five lobed, lobes 

 ^s toothed; upper leaves cut into narrower entire lobes. Flowers 

 i one-sixth to one-third inch in diameter. Sepals five, subsequently 

 ^ reflexed, deciduous. Petals five, small, oblong; achenes small, 

 'O with a hooked beak. Distribution, Europe, Jamaica, and Southern 

 United States, 

 f A common weed, waysides and cultivated grounds; flowers 

 T February to April ; yellow. 



2. R. muricatus. An annual. Stem erect, smooth ; lower leaves 

 stalked round, three lobed, coarsely toothed; upper three cleft 

 wedge-shaped at the base. Flowers one-third to two-third inch 

 in diameter. Sepals five, subsequently reflexed, deciduous ; petals 

 five, longer than sepals, with an emargenate gland ; achenes large, 



