I 



396 EANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY^) 



surpassing the sepals ; stamens 8-10 ; carpels \ery 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. 



4- -»--»- •*- Terrestrial., hut often in wet places ; leaves mostly cleft or divided. 



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



marginless. 



— Carpels in a globose head^ upon a turgid subglohose receptacle. 



tS. R. rhomboideus Goldie. (Dwarf B.) Low (\ -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 large., 

 deep yellow. {B. 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. 



1. Boot-leaves all S-parted or -lobed ; the lobes again lobed or toothed. 



14. R. sceleratus L. (Cursed C.) Annual, glabrous; root-leaves •i-Iobed., 

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

 uppermost almost sessile, with the lobes oblong-linear and nearly entire ; carpels 

 barely mucronulate, veiy numerous, in ellipsoidal or cylindrical heads ; 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. (Ku.) 



2. 3Iost or all of the root-leaves merely crenate. 



15. R. micranthus 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. {B. 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 1.0-43 dm. high, covered with a short sparse sometimes fugacious pubes- 

 cence ; primary root-leaves round-heart-shaped with a wide shallow sinus or 



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

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

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

 724 R abortivus toothed ; petals j)ale yellow., shorter than the small rejlexed calyx ; 

 Car' el X 4V receptacle villous ; carpels minute, merely nuicronulate. — Shady 



'^' hillsides and along brooks, common. Apr.-Junf. Fig. 724. 

 Var. eucyclus Fernald. Stem slender, flexuous, not succulent ; root-leaves 

 larger (often ij-fi cm. broad), orbicular, deeply cordate with a narrow sinus, 

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



h. Stigma borne on a distinct at first straightish at length more or less re- 

 curved style. 



17 R. allegheniensis Britton. Habit and foliage closely as in j^. aborti- 

 vus; stem glaucous; petals minute, pale yellow; a chencs pro- 

 vided 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. 



18. R. Harvdyi (Gray) Britton. Also with the habit and '^^^- ^g^gls!^^*"*' 

 foliage of B. abortivus ; root a fascicle of fusiform fibers ; c&vw\ x 4^4 

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

 the related species preceding ; achones tipped with a weak straightish beak 

 {B. abortions, var. CJray.) — Rocky ground, s. Mo. {Bush) and Ark. 



Q 



