396 RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFonT FAMILY) 



surpassing the sepals ; stamens 3-10 ; carpels very turgid, smooth or slightly 

 papillose, tipped with a minute sessile stigma. Wet places, near the coast, 

 s. N. Y. to Fla. and Tex., n. in the Miss, basin to Mo. and Tenn. Apr.-Sept. 



- t- -- - Terrestrial, but often in wet places ; leaves mostly cleft or divide. 



++ Root-leaves (or most of them) not divided to the very base; achenes 



marginless. 



= Carpels in a globose head, upon a turgid subglobose receptacle. 



13. R. rhomboideus Goldie. (DWARF B.) Low (1-2 dm. high), hairy; root- 

 leaves 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 obovate with a minute beak, in a globose head ; petals largi; 

 deep yellow. (R. ovalis Raf. ?) Prairies and dry hills, w. Que. to Mich., la., 

 and northw. Apr., May. 



= = Carpels in an ovoid or cylindric head, on an elongated receptacle. 



a. Stigma essentially sessile. 

 \. Root-leaves all %-parted or -lobed ; the lobes again lobed or toothed. 



14. R. sceleratus L. (CURSED C.) Annual, glabrous ; root-leaves 3-lobed, 

 rounded ; lower stem-leaves 3-parted, the lobes obtusely cut and toothed, the 

 uppermost almost sessile, with the lobes oblong-linear and nearly entire ; carju'ls 

 barely mucronulate, very numerous, in ellipsoidal or ci/liii<iri<-<il hc<i<h ; petals 

 scarcely exceeding the calyx. Wet ditches and bogs ; sometimes appearing as if 

 introduced. June-Aug. Stem thick and hollow; juice acrid and blistering; 

 leaves thickish ; flowers small, pale yellow. (Eu.) 



2. Most or all of the root-leaves merely crenate. 



16. R. micrdnthus Nutt. Villous ; roots often fusiform-thickened, fascicu- 

 late ; root-leaves for the most part broadly obovate, scarcely if at all cordate at 

 the base, some of them 3-parted or pedately 3-divided ; the cauline subsessile. 

 divided into 3(-5) narrowly oblong leaflets ; flowers very small ; petals incon- 

 spicuous, light yellow ; receptacle glabrous. (R. abortivus, var. Gray.) Open 

 deciduous woods, s. Me. to the Sask., and south w. 



16. R. abortivus L. (SMALL-FLOWERED C.) Biennial, slightly succulent ; 

 stem 1.5-0 dm. high, covered with a short sparse sometimes fugacious pubes- 

 cence ; primary root-leaves round-heart-shaped with a wide shallow xi'mix or 



kidney-form, barely crenate, the succeeding often 3-lobed or 



sy 3-parted ; those of the stem and branches 3-5-parted or divided, 



V^ subsessile, the divisions oblong or narrowly wedge-form, mostly 



724. R. abortivus. toothed ; petals pale yellow, shorter than the xtnull r<j!<\r></ <,,/,/., , 



Carpel x 4 1 / receptacle villous ; carpels minute, merely mucronulate. Shady 



hillsides and along brooks, common. Apr. -June. Fi<;. TiM. 

 Var. eucyclus Fernald. Stem slender, flexuous, not succulent ; r<>nt-lnn;-* 

 larger (often 5-0 cm. broad), orbicular, deeply cordate with a narrow sinux. 

 thin. Rich low woods, N. B. and Que. to Ct. 



b. Stigma borne on a distinct at first struightish at length inure or less re- 

 curved style. 



17. R. allegheni6nsis Britton. Habit and foliage closely as in R. aborti- 

 vus; stem glaucous; petals minute, pale yellow; achenes pro- 



rii/r<l with a distinct recurved beak. Moist places in rich woods, 

 e. Mass, to Vt., e. N. Y., and south w. to N. C., locally abundant. 

 FIG. 725. 



18. R. HarvSyi (Gray) Britton. Also with the habit and ' 



foliage of R. abortivus; root a fascicle of fusiform fibers; oirwl x4V 

 petals 5-8, oblong, 5-7 mm. in length, much larger than in 

 the related species preceding; achenes tipped with a weak straight ish beak. 

 (B. abortivus, var. Gray.) Rocky ground, s. Mo. (Rush) and Ark. 



