RANUNCULACE^E. (CROWFOOT FAMILY.) 41 



mon, especially in slow-flowing waters, the eastern form with more soft and 

 flaccid leaves. June -Aug. (Eu.) 



Var. C8BSpit6sus, DC. A dwarf terrestrial form, rooting at the nodes, 

 the small leaves somewhat fleshy, with broader rigid divisions. S. 111. 

 (Schneck), and westward. 



* * Receptacle glabrous ; no submersed leaves. 



R. HEDERACEUS, L. Rooting freely in shallow water; leaves all reniform 

 augulate-lobed. Fresh-water marshes at Norfolk, Va. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. HAL6DES. Petals yellow p , with nectariferous pit and scale; carpels 

 thin-walled, striate, in an oblong head ; scapose, spreading by runners. 



3. R. Cymbalaria, Pursh. (SEA-SIDE CROWFOOT.) Glabrous; scapes 

 1 - 6' high, 1 - 7-flowered ; leaves clustered at the root and on the joints of the 

 long rooting runners, roundish-heart-shaped or kidney-shaped, crenate, rather 

 fleshy, long-petioled ; petals 5-8. Sandy shores, from New Jersey northward, 

 and along the Great Lakes. to 111., Kan. and westward ; also at salt springs. 

 June -Aug. 



3. RANUNCULUS proper. Petals with a little scale at the base, yellow ; 



achenes nerveless. 



# A chenes smooth ; mostly perennial. 

 *- Aquatic; immersed leaves Jiliforml y dissected, as in Batrachium. 



4. R. multifidus, Pursh. (YELLOW WATER-CROWFOOT.) Stems float- 

 ing or immersed, with the leaves all repeatedly 3-forked into long filiform 

 divisions, or sometimes creeping in the mud (perennial by rooting from the 

 nodes, if at all) ; emersed leaves with shorter and linear or wedge-shaped di- 

 visions, or else kidney -shaped and sparingly lobed or toothed ; petals 5-8, 

 deep bright yellow, 4-6" long, much larger than the calyx; carpels in a 

 round head, pointed with a straight beak. E. New Eng. to S. Penn., Mo., 

 and northward. May -July. Out of water it is often pubescent, especially in 



Var. terrestris, Gray. Stem rooting in the mud or ascending from the 

 base ; leaves all smaller, coarsely dissected, round-reniform in outline ; flowers 

 and fruit twice or thrice smaller. N. Ohio to N. 111., Minn., and westward, 

 -i- -t- Terrestrial but growing invert/ wet places, glabrous or nearly so; leaves 



entire or barely toothed, all or else all but the lowest lanceolate or linear; 



carpels forming a globular head. (SPEARWORT.) 



5. R. ambigens, Watson. (WATER PLANTAIN SPEARWORT.) Stems 

 ascending (1 - 2 high), often rooting from the lower joints ; leaves lanceolate 

 or the lowest oblong, mostly denticulate (3 - 5' long), contracted into a mar* 

 gined half -clasping petiole; petals 5-7, bright yellow, oblong (2 -3" long); 

 carpels flattened, large (V long), pointed with a long narrow-subulate beak. (R. 

 alismasfolius, Man., not Gey.) N. Eng. to Out., Minn, and southward; com- 

 mon, especially at the north. June- Aug. 



6. R. Flammula, L. (SMALLER SPEARWORT.) Stem reclining or 

 ascending, rooting below, leaves lanceolate or linear, or the lowest ovate- 

 oblong to lanceolate, entire or nearly so, mostly petioled (1 - 2' long) , petals 

 5-7, much longer than the calyx, bright yellow , carpels small, flattish but 

 turgid, mucronate with a short abrupt point. Only a small form (var. INTER* 



