CROW.FOOT FAMILY. 39 



I. Aquatic ; the leaves all or mostly under water, and repeatedly dis- 

 sected into many capillary divisions ; flowering all summer. 



* Petals white, or only the claw yellow. 



R. circinatus, Sibth. STIFF WATER CROWFOOT. Leaves sessile, stiff, 

 and rigid enough to keep their shape (spreading in a circular outline) 

 when drawn out of water. Rarer than the next. 



R. aquatilis, var. trichophyllus, Gray. WHITE W. Capillary leaves 

 petioled, collapsing into a tuft when drawn out of the water ; petals small, 

 white, or yellow only at the base, where they bear a spot or little pit, but 

 no scale ; akenes wrinkled crosswise. Common. 



* * Petals bright yellow. 



R. multifidus, Pursh. YELLOW W. Leaves under water, much like 

 those of the White Water Crowfoots, or rather larger; but the bright 

 yellow petals ' long, with a little scale at the base. 



2. Terrestrial, many in wet places, but naturally growing with the foliage 

 out of water ; petals with a little scale at the base, yellow in all the wild 

 species. ^ Akenes striate, or ribbed down the sides. 



R. Cymbalaria, Pursh. SEA SIDE CROWFOOT. A little plant of sandy 

 shores of the sea and Great Lakes, etc., smooth, with naked flowering 

 stems 2'-6' high, and long runners ; leaves rounded and kidney-shaped, 

 coarsely crenate ; flowers small in summer. 



* * Akenes not prickly nor bristly nor striate on the sides, % 



+ SPEARWORTS, growing in very wet places, with entire or merely toothed 



leaves, all, or all but the lowest, lanceolate or linear / flowers all summer. 



M. Pistils flattened, pointed, or beaked. 



R. ambigens, Wats. WATER PLANTAIN SPEARWORT. Stems ascend- 

 ing, l-2 high ; leaves lanceolate, or the lowest oblong ; flower fully 

 in diameter ; akenes beaked with a straight and slender style. Common. 

 R. Flmmula, Linn. SMALLER SPEARWORT. Smaller than the last, 

 and akenes short-pointed ; rare N., but very common along borders of 

 ponds and rivers is the 



Var. reptans, Meyer, or CREEPING S., with slender stems creeping a few 

 inches in length ; leaves linear or spatulate, seldom 1' long ; flower only ' 



broad. ^ ^ Pistils globular, pointless. Stems not rooting. 



R. oblongifdlius, Ell. Diffusely branched above and many-flowered ; 

 leaves serrate or denticulate ; lower ovate or oblong, upper linear. 111., 

 Mo., and So. States. 



R. pusfllus, Poir. Differs from the preceding chiefly in the broader 

 entire leaves ; the lower round, ovate, or heart-shaped, upper oblong or 

 lanceolate. N. Y. and S. along the coast. 



H- i- CROWFOOTS in wet or moist places, with all or at least the upper leaves 



3-parted or divided. 



w- Soot-leaves roundish, crenate, or toothed, but not lobed or cleft. 

 R. rhombofdeus, Goldie. Hairy, 3'-8' high ; petals large, deep yellow. 

 Prairies, Mich, to N. 111., Minn, and W. 



R. abortlvus, Linn. Very smooth and slender (rarely pubescent = 

 var. micranthus}, 6'-2 high; petals shorter than sepals, pale yellow. 

 Very common in shady moist places in spring. 



w ++ ^Root-leaves variously lobed, cleft, or parted. 



= Pistils in oblong or cylindrical clusters, 



R. afflnis, R. Br. Low or slender, 1 high or less ; root-leaves pedately 

 many-cleft ; styles recurved. Iowa, N., and W. 



