CROWFOOT FAMILY. 39 



§ 1. Aquatic, the leaves all or mostly under water, and repeatedly dis- 

 sected into many capillary divisions ; flowering all summer. 



* Pftals white, or only the claw yelloic. 



R. circinitus, Sibtli. Stiff Water Crowfoot. Leaves sessile, stiff, 

 and rigid enough to keep their shape (spreading in a circular outline) 

 when drawn out of water. Rarer than the next. 



R. aqudtilis, var. trichophyllua, Gray. White W. Capillary leaves 

 petioled, collapsing into a tuft when drawn out of the water ; petals small, 

 white, or yellow only at the base, where they bear a spot or little pit, but 

 no scale ; akenes wrinkled crosswise. Common. 



* * Petals bright yellow. 



R. multffidus, Pursh. Yellow W. Leaves under water, much like 

 those of the White Water Crowfoots, or rather larger ; but the bright 

 yellow petals .^' long, with a little scale at the base. 



§ 2. Terrestrial, many in wet places, hut naturally growing with the foliage 

 out of water ; petals with a little scale at the base, yellow in all the wild 



^ ' * Akenes striate, or ribbed down the sides. ® 



R. C3rmbaliria, Pursh. Sea side Crowfoot. A little plant of sandy 

 shores of the sea and Great Lakes, etc., smooth, with naked flowering 

 stems 2'-6' high, and long runners ; leaves rounded and kidney-shaped, 

 coarsely crenate ; flowers small in summer. 



« * Akenes not prickly nor bristly nor striate on the sides. % 



*- Spearworts, grotoing in very wet places, loith entire or merely toothed 

 leaves, all, or all but the lowest, lanceolate or linear ; flowers all summer. 



*♦ Pistils flattened, pointed, or beaked. 



R. ^mbigens, Wats. Water Plantain Spearwort. Stems ascend- 

 ing, l°-2'-^ high ; leaves lanceolate, or the lowe.st oblong ; flower fully \ 

 in diameter ; akenes beaked with a straight and slender style. Commoii. 



R. Fl^mmula, Linn. Smaller Spearwort. Smaller than the last, 

 and akenes short-pointed ; rare N., but very common along borders of 

 ponds and rivers is the 



Var. r^ptans, Meyer, or Creeping S., with slender stems creeping a few 



inches in length ; leaves linear or spatulate, seldom 1' long ; flower only \ 



lDro3.d 



** ** Pistils globular, pointless. Stems not rooting. 



R. oblongif6lius. Ell. Diffusely branched above and many-flowered ; 

 leaves serrate or denticulate ; lower ovate or oblong, upper linear. 111., 

 Mo., and So. States. 



R. pusHlus, Poir. Differs from the preceding chiefly in the broader 

 entire leaves ; the lower round, ovate, or heart-shaped, upper oblong or 

 lanceolate. N. Y. and S. along the coast. 



♦- -1- Crowfoots in wet or moist places, with all or at least the upper leaves 



S-parted or divided. 



■^ Boot-leaves roundish, crenate, or toothed, but not lobed or cleft. 



R. rhomboldeus, Goldie. Hairy, 3'-8' high ; petals large, deep yellow, 

 i'rairies, Micii. to N. 111., Minn, and W. 



R. abortivus. Linn. Very smooth and slender (rarely pubescent = 

 var. micranthus), 6'-2° high ; petals shorter than sepals, pale yellow. 

 Very common in shady moist places in spring. 



♦♦ «. Boot-leaves variously lobed, cleft, or parted. 



= Pistils in oblong or cylindrical clusters. 



R. affinis, K. Hr. Low or slender, P high or less ; root-leaves pedately 

 many-clett ; styles recurved. Iowa, N., and W. 



