RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



155 



Means of control 



Cut or pull while in early bloom in order that no seeds shall be 

 allowed to ripen. 



SMALL-FLOWERED CROWFOOT 

 Ranunculus abortlvus, L. 



Other English names : Abortive Buttercup, Kidney-leaved Crowfoot. 

 Native. Biennial. Propagates by seeds. 

 Time of bloom: Late April to August. 

 Seed-time: June to September. 



Range : Labrador to Manitoba, southward to Florida and Texas. 

 Habitat : Moist soil ; meadows, lawns, and 

 cultivated ground, particularly strawberry 



This plant is readily identified by the 

 great difference between its root leaves and 

 stem-leaves ; the basal leaves being thick of 

 texture, bright green, rounded heart-shaped 

 or kidney -shaped, with scalloped edges and 

 long petioles ; the stem-leaves, three- to five- 

 parted, with wedge-shaped or linear seg- 

 ments, the lowermost with short petioles, 

 those near the top sessile ; all are smooth, 

 as is also the stem, which is erect, slender, 

 many-branched, six to eighteen inches tall. 

 Flowers numerous but very small, the pale 

 yellow petals being hardly noticeable and 

 shorter than the reflexed sepals. The small 

 seed-head is globose, the carpels minute, 

 tipped with a mere bristly point. (Fig. 

 105.) 



Means of control 



Better drainage; for this Crowfoot is 

 a plant that demands moisture. Early 

 cutting with hoe or spud in order that no 

 seed may be permitted to develop. 



FIG. 105. Small- 

 flowered Crowfoot (Ra- 

 nunculus abortivus). X J. 



