CROWFOOT FAMILY. Ranunculaceae. 



~ This is the common buttercup of fields 



Tall Buttercup 



Ranunculus anc * meadows, which has become natural- 

 acris ized from the old country. The stem is 



Golden or deep hairy, branched and less hairy above, and 



- llow deep green. The leaves deep green with 



May- August ^ .... 



3-7 stemless divisions, and these are again 



correspondingly divided into linear segments ; they are 

 cut and slashed in a most decorative and complicated 

 fashion, only the upper ones showing the simple three- 

 parted figure. The flowers, nearly 1 inch broad, are 

 lustrous light golden yellow within, and light yellow 

 without, the 5 broad petals overlapping. The flowers 

 are set on long slender stems, and sometimes continue 

 to bloom until frost. 2-3 feet high. Common every- 

 where, especially upon moist meadows. The variety 

 named R. acris, var. Steveni (Lange), is similar except in 

 the shape of its leaf, which has very broad instead of 

 linear segments, which impart to the plant a thicker 

 and heavier appearance in the field. This variety is the 

 common form in northern N. Eng. Found at Alstead 

 Centre, and Jefferson, N. H. (M. L. Fernald in Rhodora^ 

 vol. i, p. 227). 



Marsh Mari- ^ thick and hollow-stemmed stocky 

 gold" plant common in marshes in spring, with 



Caltha palustris round or kidney-shaped deep green leaves 

 Golden yellow obscurely blunt-toothed, and brilliant 

 April-May ... , 



golden yellow flowers resembling butter- 

 cups. Often wrongly called cowslips. The flowers are 

 perfect with 5-9 petallike sepals, and numerous stamens ; 

 they are honey- bearing, and although the anthers and 

 stigmas mature simultaneously, cross-fertilization is 

 favored by the anthers opening outwardly, and the 

 outermost ones farthest from the stigmas opening first 

 (Muller). The flowers are chiefly fertilized by the 

 beautiful yellow flies belonging to the family Syrphidce. 

 The classical name Caltha means cup, and palus a 

 marsh marsh-cup. 8-24 inches high. Common in wet 

 meadows, from Me., south to S. Car., and west. 



The var. flabellifoha is a slender weak-stemmed form 

 with open fan-shaped leaves, and much smaller flowers. 

 Found in cold mountain springs, N. Y., the Pocono Mts. 

 144 



