138 



RANUNCULACEAE. 



Flowers large ; achenes smooth. 



Stems erect. 



Stems creeping or ascending. 

 Flowers small ; achenes papillose or muricate. 



Achenes rough-papillose. 



Achenes muricate. 



1. R. acris. 



2. R. reptns. 



3. R. parviflorus. 



4. R. muricatus. 



2. Ranunculus ripens 



L. Creeping Buttercup. 

 (Fig. 160.) Generally hairj, 

 sometimes only slightly so; 

 stems creeping or ascending. 

 Leaves petioled, 3-divided, 

 the terminal division, or all 

 three stalked, all ovate, cu- 

 neate or truncate, acute, 

 cleft and lobed, often 

 blotched; flowers nearly 1' 

 broad; petals obovate, much 

 exceeding the spreading se- 

 pals; head of fruit globose, 

 4" in diameter; achenes 

 margined, tipped with a 

 stout short slightly bent 

 beak. 



Border of Pembroke Marsh, 

 1905, and reported also by 

 Reade. Introduced. Native 

 of Europe. Naturalized in 

 eastern North America. Flow- 

 ers from spring to autumn. 



1. Ranunculus ^cris L. 



Tall or Meadow Buttercup. 

 (Fig. 159.) Hairy, branched 

 above, 2°-3° high. Basal 

 leaves tufted, petioled, 3-7- 

 divided, the divisions sessile 

 and cleft into numerous Bar- 

 row mainly acute lobes; upper 

 leaves short-petioled and merely 

 3-parted; flowers about 10" 

 broad; petals twice or thrice 

 the length of the calyx, obo- 

 vate; head of fruit globose, 

 6"-7" broad; achenes com- 

 pressed, short-beaked. 



Grassy woods, South Shore 

 road, Devonshire, 1905. Intro- 

 duced. Native of Europe. Flow- 

 ers from spring to autumn. 

 Widely naturalized in North 

 America, where it is a weed in 

 fields and meadows. 



