Caltha.] RANUNCULACEJE. .11 



6. CAL'THA, L. Marsh Marigold. 



Herbs with stout creeping rootstocks. Leaves chiefly radical, cordate. 

 Flowers terminal, few, white or yellow, honeyed. Sepals 5 or more, 

 petaloid, deciduous, imbricate in bud. Petals 0. Carpels many, sessile ; 

 ovules numerous, 2-seriate. Follicles numerous, many-seeded. Seeds 

 many, with a prominent raphe and thickened funicle. — Distrib. N. and 

 S. temp, and cold regions ; species 5-6. — Etym. naKaQos, a cup. 



1. C. palus'tris, L. ; stem not rooting at the nodes, leaves orbicular- 

 reniform crenate-toothed. 



Marshes and ditch-banks, N". to Shetland ; ascends to 3,400 ft. in the High- 

 lands ; Ireland ; fl. March-May. — A coarse, glabrous, dark green, showy, 

 very variable plant. Rootstock short, horizontal. Stem 8 in.-3 ft., suberect, 

 prostrate, or procumbent and rooting from all the nodes. Leaves |-2 in. 

 diam., base deeply 2-lobed, sinus narrow. Stipules very .large, membranous, 

 glairy, quite entire in bud and enclosing the young leaf. Flowers 1-2 in. 

 diam., golden yellow. Sepals unequal, obovate or oblong. Follicles ^-f in. 

 — Distrib. Europe (Arctic), N. and W. Asia to the Himalaya, N. America. 



Var. C. vidga'ris, Schott ; stem ascending, flowers many l|-2 in. diam., sepals 

 contiguous, follicles spreading, beak short. — Var. C. Guerange'rii, Boreau ; 

 stem ascending, flowers many smaller, sepals remote when expanded, 

 follicles spreadiug, beak longer. Probably C. ripa'ria, Don, and the origin 

 of the double-flowered Caltha of gardens. — Var. mi'nor, Syme ; stem pro- 

 cumbent, flower solitary f-1 in. diam., sepals remote, follicles erect, beak 

 short. Mountainous places. 



2. C. radi'cans, Forster ; rooting at the nodes, radical leaves deltoid 

 obscurely 5-angled acutely toothed, base truncate or reniform. 

 Forfarshire, very rare ; fl. May-June. — This is a very remarkable species, 



or perhaps form of C. palus'tris, differing from all other forms of the 

 latter in the deltoid sharply-toothed leaves and rooting nodes of the 

 branches. It is said by Nyman to have been found by Th. Fries in E. Finland. 



7. TROL'LIUS, L. Globe-flower. 



Erect perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, palmately lobed or cut. 

 Flowers large, yellow or lilac. Sepals 5-15, petaloid, imbricate in bud. 

 Petals 5-15, small, narrow, claw very short, blade with a glandular pit 

 at the base. Stamens very many. Carpels 5. or more, sessile ; ovules 

 many, 2-seriate. Follicles 5 or more. Seeds many, angled, testa 

 coriaceous. — Distrib. N. temp, and arctic ; species 9. — Etym. Trol, a 

 globe, in old German. 



T. europse'us, L. ; flower globose, petals equalling the stamens. 

 Subalpine pastures and copses, from E. Cornwall, Worcester, and Wales to 

 Shetland, ascending to 3,300 ft.; N. of Ireland very rare ; fl. June-Aug. — 

 Glabrous. Rootstock short, crowned with rigid fibres. Stem 6-24 in., simple, 

 leafy. Radical leaves petioled, suborbicular, 5-partite, segments cuneate 

 lobed and cleft ; cauline smaller, sessile. Flowers 1-1^ in. diam., pale yellow, 

 homogamous. Sepals orbicular, concave. Petals oblong. Stamens short. 



