34 CROWFOOT FAMILY. 



I. RANITNCULACEiE, CROWFOOT FAMILY. 



Not perfectly distinguished by any one or two particular 

 marks, but may be known, on the whole, by having numerous 

 stamens, and usually more than one pistil, all the parts of the 

 flower distinct, and inserted on the receptacle. The calyx is 

 often colored like a corolla, when the latter is wanting. The 

 bulk of the seed is hard albumen, the embryo being very small. 

 The plants are herbs with an acrid watery juice (not milky or 

 colored), or a few barely shrubby. Many are cultivated for 

 ornament. 



§ 1. Sepals valvate, or with their edges turned inicnrd in the hud. Petals none, or 

 minute. Leaves opposite, the plants mostbj climbing hy their leafstalks. 



1. CLEMATIS. Sepals commonly 4, sometimes several, petal-like. 



§ 2. Sepals imhi-icated in the hud. Not climbiiir/, nor woody except in 22 and one of2\. 



« Pistils sevei-(tl or many in a head, ripening into \-seeded akcnes. 



-H Petals none ; sepals petal-like. 



*+ All hut lotcer leaves opposite or whorled, often simulating an involucre. Ped. ncles 



1 flowered. 



2. ANEMONE. Involucre of 2 or more leaves much below the tiower. Pistils very many 



in a close head (or fewer in one species), forming- pointed or tailed akenes. 



3. HEPATICA. Involucre close to the flower, exactly imitatiii^ a 3-leaved calyx. 



Pistils 12-20. 



4. ANEMONELLA. Involucre at the base of an umbel of flowers. Pistils 4-15. 



** ++ Leaves alternate. Flowers in panicles or corymbs. 



5. THALICTRUM. Leaves 2-;3-ternately comi>ound (Lessons, Fig. 161). 



6. TRAUTVETTEPJA. Leaves simple. Flowers perfect. 



-!- +■ Petals and sepals both conspicuous, .'> or more. 



7. ADONIS. Petals and sepals willi no pit or aifpendag-e at the base. Akenes in a head 



or short spike. 



8. MYOSURUS. Sepals with a spur at the base underneath. Petals on a .slender claw, 



which is hollow at its apex. Akenes in a long, tail-shaped spike. 



9. RANUNCULUS. Sepals naked. Petals with a little pit or a scale on the short claw. 



.\kenes in a head. 



• « Pistils few, rarely single, ripening into few- to many-seeded pods or berries. 



-(- Ovules, and commonly seed.t, more than 2. Herbs. 



++ Flowers regular, not racemose; sepals petal-like. 



= Petals in our species. 



10. ISOPTRUM. Sepals 5, broad, white. Leaves compound. 



11. CjVLTHA. Sepals 5-9, broad, yellow. Leaves simple. 



= =, Petals 5 or more inconspicuous nectar -bearing bodies, usually very much smaller 



than the .<sepals. 



;1 Leaves palmately parted or divided. 



12. TROLLIUS. Petals with a little depression near the base. 



13. HELLEB0RU9. Petals hollow and 2-lipped. 



[ ^ Leaves distinctly compound. 



