RANUNCULACEAE. 



[VOL. II. 



21. TRAUTVETTERIA F. & M. Ind. Sem. Petr. i: 22. 1834. 



Tall erect perennial herbs, with large palmately-lobed leaves, those of the stem dis- 

 tant. Sepals 3-5, concave, caducous. Petals none. Carpels oo , i-ovuled. Acheues capi- 

 tate, sharply angular, inflated, tipped with the minute styles. Embryo large. Flowers 

 small, white, corymbosely paniculate. [In honor of Prof. Trautvetter, a Russian botanist.} 



A monotypic genus of North America and eastern Asia. 



i. Trautvetteria Carolinensis (Walt.) 

 Vail. False Bugbane. (Fig. 1594.) 



Hydrastis Carolinensis Walt. Fl. Car. 156. 1788. 

 Cimicifuga palmata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 316. 

 1803. 



Trautvetteria palmata F. & M. Ind. Sem. Petr. i: 



22. 1834. 

 Trautvetteria Carolinensis Vail, Mem. Torr. Club,. 



2: 42. 1890. 



Stout, 2-3 high, branching, nearly glabrous, 

 except the lower surfaces of the leaves. Basal 

 leaves long-petioled, 6'-8' broad, 4 / ~5' long, 

 deeply lobed, the lobes acute and sharply den- 

 tate; panicle ample, the flowers 3 // -6 // broad, 

 borne in cymose clusters at the ends of its 

 branches; filaments slender, slightly widened; 

 anthers oblong. 



Southwestern Pennsylvania to the mountains of 

 Virginia and Kentucky, south to Florida, west to 

 Indiana and Missouri. Ascends to6ooo ft. in North 

 Carolina. June-July. 



22. RANUNCULUS L. Sp. PI. 548. 1753. 



Annual or perennial herbs, with alternate simple entire lobed or divided or dissected 

 leaves, and yellow white or red flowers. Sepals mostly 5, deciduous. Petals equal in num- 

 ber or more, conspicuous or minute, provided with a nectariferous pit and a scale at the base 

 of the blade. Carpels oo, i-ovuled. Achenes capitate or spicate, generally flattened, 

 smooth, papillose or echinatc, tipped with a minute or an elongated style. [Latin for a 

 small frog, in allusion to the marsh habitat of many species.] 



Some 200 species, widely distributed in the temperate and cool regions of both hemispheres 

 and on mountain tops in the tropics. In addition to those here described, about 40 others inhabit 

 the western and northwestern parts of the continent. The names Crowfoot or Buttercup are popu- 

 larly applied to most of the species with large flowers and divided leaves. 



* Aquatic, with dissected submerged leaves, the upper ones lobed, floating or emersed; flowers 



large. i. R. dclphinifolius. 



* * Terrestrial or mud plants, with entire, lobed or divided leaves. [Nos. 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9 some- 



times in ditches or swamps.] 



f Creeping or decumbent perennial*, with palmately lobed or divided leaves ; flowers small. 

 Plants leaf y-stemmed. 



More or less pubescent; leaves orbicular, palmately divided. 



Achenes marginless; northern. 2. R. Purshii. 



Achenes callous-margined; southwestern. 3. R. Missouriensis. 



Glabrous; leaves globed or 3-cleft, cuneate at the base; arctic. 4. R. hyperboreus. 



Plant scapose from filiform rootstocks. 5. R. Lapponicus. 



ft Plants of swamps or muddy shores; leaves entire or denticulate. 

 Annuals; achenes beakless. 



Petals i"-2" long: stamens few. 6. R. pusillus. 



Petals 2"~3" long; stamens numerous. 7. R. oblongifolius. 



Perennials, rooting from the nodes; achenes beaked. 



Stems trailing; achenes minutely beaked. 8. R. reptans. 



Stems ascending or erect; achenes subulate-beaked. 9. R. oblusiusculus. 



tft Terrestrial species with some or all the leaves lobed or divided. 



Calyx conspicuously black-pubescent; arctic; flowers white or light yellow. 10. R. nivalis. 

 Calyx glabrous or pubescent: flowers yellow. 



i. Achenes smooth, neither papillose, muricate nor spiny. 



Plant low, arctic-alpine; leaves small, palmately lobed. n. R. pygmaeus, 



Plants neither arctic nor alpine. 



Basal leaves, some or all of them, merely crenate. 



Head of fruit oblong, 2-3 times as long as thick. 12. R. pedatifidus. 



Head of fruit globose or subglobose. 

 Petals large, longer than the sepals. 



Basal leaves oval or ovate, not cordate. 13. R. ovalis. 



Basal leaves reniform or orbicular, cordate. 14. R. Harveyi. 



