8 RANUXCULACE^E. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 



ions ; or sometimes rooting in the. mud, with the emerged leaves kidney-shaped 

 or round and variously lobcd or cleft; petals 5-8, much larger than the calyx ; 

 carpels in a spherical head, pointed with a straight beak. (R. multifidus, Punk, 

 Bigd. R. lacustris, Beck.) Stagnant water ; most common northward. May - 

 July. Stems 2 -4 long, round and tubular. Petals bright yellow, mostly as 

 large as in the common Buttercup. 

 -*- - Terrestrial: perennial, except Nos. 6 and 9, which are at least sometimes 



annual. 

 w- Leaves all undivided: plants, glabrous. 



3. R. alisinacfolius, Geycr, Bcnth. (WATER-PLANTAIN SPEAR- 

 WORT.) Stems hollow, ascending, often rooting from the lower joints; leaves 

 lanceolate, mostly denticulate, the lowest oblong, all contracted into a margined 

 petiole with a membranaceous dilated and half-sheathing base; petals 5-7, 

 much longer than the calyx, bright yellow ; carpels flattened, pointed with a long 

 and straight subulate sharp beak, collected in a globular head. (R. Flammula & 

 K. Lingua, Amer. authors.) Wet or inundated places; common northward. 

 June - Aug. Stems 1 - 2 high. Leaves 3' - 5' long. Flower 5" - 6", in Ore- 

 gon and California 7" -9", broad. Carpels much larger than in the next. 



4. R. F 1:1 minis I :i, L. (SPEARWORT.) Stem reclining or ascending, 

 rooting below ; leaves lanceolate or linear, or the lowest oblong-lanceolate, en- 

 tire or nearly so, mostly petiolcd; petals 5-7, much longer than the calyx, 

 bright yellow ; carpels turgid, mucronate with a very short and usually curved Hunt 

 point, forming a small globular head. Shore of L. Ontario (a small form) ; 

 thence northward. June -Aug. Corolla 4" -6" broad. (Eu.) 



Var. re plans. (CREEPING SPEARWORT.) Much smaller and slenderer ; 

 the filiform prostrate stems rooting at all the joints. (R. reptans, L. R. fili- 

 formis, Michx.) Gravelly or sandy banks of streams, &c. New England and 

 Penn. to Wisconsin, northward. Stems 4' - 6' long. (Eu.) 



5. R. pnsillus, Poir. Stem slender, ascending ; root-leaves ovate or round- 

 ish, obtuse, entire, often rather heart-shaped, on long petioles ; the lower stem- 

 leaves similar ; the uppermost becoming linear-lanceolate, obscurely toothed, 

 scarcely pctioled petals 1 5, commonly 3, about as long as the calyx, yellowish ; 

 sianx-iis few (5 10) ; carpels slightly pointed or blunt, in a globular head. Wet 

 places, S. New York, New Jersey, and southward near the coast. July. 

 Stems 5' -12' high. 



6. R. Cymlmlftria, Pursh. (SEA-SIDE CROWFOOT.) Stem sending 

 off long runners from the base which are rooting and leafy at the joints ; leaves 

 all roundish, mostly heart-shaped at the base, coarsely crenate-toothed, rather fleshy, 

 on long petioles ; flower-stalks (scapes) leafless, 1 - 7-flowered ; petals 5-8, bright 

 yellow ; carpels in oblong heads, very numerous, short-beaked, striate-veined on the 

 sides. Sea-shore, Maine to New Jersey. Salt springs, Salina, New York. 

 June -Aug. Scapes 3' -6' high. 



*-* -n- Root-leaves undimded^ often cleft, but not to the base. 



7. R. rllOinboidcilS, Goldie. Dwarf, hairy,- root-leaven roundish, or 

 rhombic-ovate, rarely subcordate, toothed or crenate; lowest stem -leaves similar 

 or 3-5-lobed; the upper 3-5-parted, almost sessile, the lobes linear; carpels 



