22 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



A. pavonina De Not. = \. hortensis var. pavonina Ard. = vars> fulgens 

 and pavonina Gren. et Godr. Flowers large, with 5-15 brilliant red sepals, with 

 a yellow centre, but more commonly the flowers are double with an indefinite 

 number of sepals, the outer ones being greenish. 



On terraces and cultivated ground on the littoral. Possibly an artificial 

 hybrid only. February-April. 



A. palmata L. (Plate I). Leaves palmate, suborbicular, with 3-5 obtuse 

 lobes, not deeply cut but toothed, often purplish beneath. Involucral bracts 

 sessile, with 3-5 linear-lanceolate lobes. Flowers yellow, the size and colour of 

 the Lesser Celandine, solitary, with 8-12 obtuse sepals. Carpels woolly with 

 glabrous beak. 



Borders of dry woods and clearings, rare. March-April. In a few places 

 near Hyeres, La Londe and Bormes. 



A. Hepatica L. = Hepatica triloba Chaix. Leaves leathery, with 3 

 entire rounded lobes, often purplish beneath, on long petioles. Involucre im- 

 mediately below the flower, of 3 entire, sessile bracts resembling a calyx. Flower 

 solitary, blue, more rarely rose or white. 



Woods and shady places in the mountain and sub-Alpine regions. 

 February-June, according to situation. It grows on limestone woods at Mont- 

 rieux above Toulon, and elsewhere in the Var ; it descends also to shady places 

 near Nice, Menton, Ventimiglia, etc., and extends to at least 1600 m. in the 

 Maritime and Ligurian Alps. 



ADONIS L. (PHEASANT'S EYE). 



A. autumnalis L. (Plate IV). Annual. Stem erect, branched, very leafy. 

 Leaves decompound ; segments small, linear ; sepals spreading. Petals deep 

 scarlet with a black spot at base, rather longer than the dark purple sepals. 

 Head of reticulated achenes somewhat elongated. 



Cultivated fields and waste places. April-June. 



A. aestivalis L. Annual. Differs from the last chiefly in the lighter red or 

 rarely yellow flowers with 5-10 petals, yellow glabrous calyx, and the achenes 

 with a sharp tooth on the rim and in the obliquely ascending beak. 



In crops near Menton, Gourdon, etc. May-June. 



A. f lammea Jacq. Annual. Flowers bright scarlet. Petals 3-6. Sepals 

 pubescent, greenish. Fruiting spike, rather loose, elongated. Achenes with 

 straight blackish beak and blunt tooth close to the beak. 



Crops and cultivated fields, but not on the littoral itself. May-July. 



CERATOCEPHALUS Maench. 



C. falcatus Persoon = Ranunculus falcatus L. A small bushy annual 

 2-4 in. high. Leaves radical, digitate, divided into linear segments, on long 

 stalks. Sepals and upper part of peduncles covered with long silky hairs. Petals 

 pale yellow, nearly twice length of sepals. Carpels with 2 protuberances at 

 base, ending in a long beak curved like a horn, and arranged in an oval spike. 



Cultivated fields. March-May. 



RANUNCULUS L. 



SECTION i. Batrachium. Marsh or aquatic plants. Flowers white, with 

 yellow basal glands, proterandrous. Leaves often submerged and multifid. 

 Peduncles usually leaf-opposed, i-fid. Achenes transversely wrinkled. 



R. heterophyllus Fries. Segments of submerged leaves spreading in all 

 directions; peduncles barely exceeding the leaves. Floating leaves i in. in 

 diameter, from orbicular to reniform, 3-5 lobed. Flowers J-i in. diameter; 

 petals obovate, longer than sepals. Stamens numerous. Achenes very variable 

 in pubescence and sometimes glabrous. 



Ditches and stagnant water. April -July. 



