1500 



RANUNCULUS 



10 Calif6rnicus, Benth. Plant rather weak, K-2 ft. 

 hisrh usually pubescent or hirsute, branching and with- 

 out leaves in upper part: roots fibrous: Ivs. ternately 

 divided or parted, or palmately 5-divided into linear or 

 narrow, often 2-3-parted divisions: petals 6-15, glossy 

 yellow, oblong or narrowly obovate: akenes flat slightly 

 margined, beak very short. Rather dry places, W. Calif, 

 and adjacent Ore. 



11 acris, Linn. Figs. 1874, 2074, 2075, 2078. Plant 

 hairy up to the sepals, erect, %-3 ft. high, often 

 branched: radical Ivs. on long, slender petioles; others 

 with shorter petioles sheathing the stem or nearly ses- 

 sile- Ivs 3-parted nearly to the base, the divisions 

 ovoi'd-cuneate, 2-3-lobed and coarsely toothed or cut: 

 bracts linear, lobed or entire: fls. yellow, 9-12 lines 

 across, several, on rather short peduncles; sepals hairy 

 beneath, ovate, shorter than the petals; petals 5, gla- 

 brous, obovoid, obtuse, bearing a prominent scale at 

 base- akenes compressed, coriaceous on margins; style 

 very short: head globose. May-Sept. Newfoundland, 

 Canada, eastern states. Said to be naturalized from Eu- 

 rope. Var. flore-pleno, Hort., is more common in cult. 

 The best forms are deep, glossy, golden yellow and very 

 double. Called BACHELOR'S BUTTONS. B.M. 215. 



12. aconitifblius, Linn. Plant pubescent, %-3 ft. high, 

 branched: Ivs. palmately 3-5-parted, parts cut-toothed, 

 tipper ones sessile and with oblong to linear-lanceolate 

 lobes: fls. white, several on a stem; sepals flat, pubes- 

 cent; petals oblong, cuneate to orbicular. May, June. 

 Mountains of middle Europe. Var. flore-pleno, Hort. 

 (var. plenus), called WHITE BACHELOR'S BUTTON and 

 FAIR MAIDS OF FRANCE, has very ornamental, double, 

 white, globose flowers. Gn. 45, p. 29, and 48, p. 506. 

 Var. luteus-pianus, Hort. Fls. much doubled but of a 

 golden yellow color. The type and varieties are suited 

 to borders and half wild places 



2078. Buttercups Ranunculus acris. Natural size. 



R. anemonoldes,ZiM. 6 in.: fls. white or tinged rose. Austria. 

 Gn. 22:354. R. aqudtilis, Linn., sometimes called Lodewort, 

 Ram's Foot, etc., is an interesting aquatic plant common in 

 temperate regions, the floating Ivs. often broad and 3-lobed, 

 while the submerged Ivs. are cut up into numerous thread-like 

 segments. R. bulldtus, Linn., is a yellow-fld. species offered in 

 single and double forms by Dutch bulb dealers. Mediterranean 

 region. R. cardiophyllus, Hook., offered in Colo, in 1900, is con- 



RAPHANUS 



sidered by Gray as R. affinis, var. validus. It is an American 

 species pictured in B.M. 2999 with yellow fls. 1/4 in. across. 

 R. fascicularis, Muhl. Height 1 ft. June. N. Am. Mn. 2:1. 

 R. Ficaria, Linn., called Lesser Celandine or Pilewort in Eng- 

 land, is a native of Europe and the Caucasus region. It has yel- 

 low fls. about 1 in. across. A double form is procurable from 

 Dutch bulb dealers. -R. lanuginosus, Linn., is a European spe- 

 cies of which a double form is advertised by Krelage, of Haar- 

 lem, Holland. R. Lyalli.i, Hook, f., the New Zealand Water 

 Lily, grows 2-4 ft. high, has peltate Ivs. and waxy white fls. 

 4 in. across, borne in many - flowered panicles. In Europe it 



2079. Dwarf Essex Rape (X 1-12). 



is considered a cool greenhouse plant. It is a gorgeous spe- 

 cies and ought to succeed somewhere in North America. G.C. 

 II. 15:724; 23:371. R. parnassifolius. Linn., is a white -fld. 

 European mountain plant 6 in. high, procurable from Dutch bulb 

 dealers. J.H. III. 30:37. L. B.C. 3:245. B.M. 386.-R. pedatus, 

 Waldst. & Kit., a native of the Hungarian Alps, has yellow fls. 

 nearly an inch across. R. rutuefblius, Linn., a native of the 

 higher Alps, has yellow fls.: petals 8-10; claw orange Offered 

 by Dutch dealers. R. septentrionalis, Poir., is advertised. It is 

 a native plant allied to R. repens. R. spicdtvs, Desf., is figured 

 in B.M. 4583, with showy 5-petaled yellowfls. fully2 in. across. It 

 is an Algerian species but is said to be perfectly hardy in England 

 and of easy culture in any good garden soil. II. super bigsimtu, 

 Hort., is used in some catalogues for the double French Ranun- 

 culi, known also as R. Asiaticus, var. superbissimus. R. viri- 

 difldrus, Hort. VanTubergen, is a scarlet and green-fld. variety 

 of the Turban class of R. Asiaticus. j Q_ DAVIS. 



RAPE (Brassica Napus). Fig. 2079. In recent years 

 this has become an important forage plant. The name 

 Rape includes several varieties which are grown for 

 two purposes: (1) for seed from which oil is expressed; 

 (2) for the purpose of furnishing animals with succu- 

 lent feed during late summer and autumn, when pas- 

 tures become bare. Varieties used for the latter pur- 

 pose usually do not produce seed in this climate the same 

 season, though they are usually classed with annuals. 

 Dwarf Essex is an example of the kind used for soiling 

 (green feeding) purposes. Rape is of considerable im- 

 portance to the fruit grower as a cover-crop. The seed 

 germinates readily, will often grow where a clover catch 

 is impossible, and furnishes excellent sheep pasturage 

 late in the season. When grown strictly as a soiling 

 plant the tops are cut and hauled to the feed-lot or 

 stable. Dwarf Essex Rape much resembles a ruta- 

 baga turnip at first. It is like a rutabaga with an exag- 

 gerated leafy top and without a swollen fleshy root. 

 Rape is a cool weather plant and may be grown in al- 

 most any part of the United States by sowing it at the 

 proper time. As a cover-crop in the orchard in the East 

 it may be sown as late as September 15 with good re- 

 sults. It is an excellent pioneer plant in the work of 

 renewing humus in worn-out lands. In the Middle 

 West, where shade is needed, Rape is used as a nurse 

 plant for clover when the latter is sown in orchards in 

 midsummer. Turnips may be used for the same purpose. 



JOHN CRAIG. 



RAPHANUS (classical name, from the Greek). Cru- 

 ciferce. RADISH. CHARLOCK. Annual or biennial branch- 

 ing herbs, of about 6 species in Europe and temperate 

 Asia, of which one, R. sativus, is the Radish (which 

 see). They bear small but rather showy slender-pedi- 

 celled flowers in rose-lilac or white, or in some species 

 yellow, in open terminal racemes. Leaves various and 

 variable, the radical and sometimes the cauline lyrate- 

 pinnatifid. Stamens 6, free. Sepals erect, the lateral 

 ones somewhat saccate or pouch-like at base. Pod a 



