396 EANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY; 



surpassing the sepals ; stamens 3-10 ; carpels very turgid, smootli or slightl;^ 

 papillose, tipped with a minute sessile stigma. — Wet places, near the coast, 

 s. N. Y. to Fla. and Tex., n. in the Miss, basin to Mo. and Tenn. Apr.-Sept. 



4^ H^ +.- H_ Terrestrial, hut often in wet places ; leaves mostly cleft or divided. 



*^ Boot-leaves (or most of them) not divided to the very base ; achenes 



marginless. 



= Carpels in a globose head^ upon a turgid subglohose receptacle. 



13. R. rhomboideus Goldie. (Dwarf B.) Low (1-2 f^m. high), haii-y ; root- 

 leaves roundish or rhombic-ovate, rarely subcordate, toothed or crenate ; lowest 

 stem-leaves similar or ;]-o-lobed, the upper 3-5-parted, almost sessile, the lobes 

 linear ; carpels obovate with a minute beak, in a globose head ; petals large, 

 deep yellow. (B. ovalis Raf. ?) — Prairies and dry hills, w. Que. to Mich., la., 

 and northw Apr., May. 



= = Carpels m an ovoid or cylindric head, on an elongated receptacle. 



a. Stigma essentially sessile. 



1. Boot-leaves all ^-parted or -lobed ; the lobes again lobed or toothed. 



14. R. sceleratus L. (Cursed C.) Annual, glabrous; root-leaves S-Iobed, 

 rounded ; lower stem-leaves o-parted, the lobes obtusely cut and toothed, the 

 uppermost almost sessile, with the lobes oblong-linear and nearly entire ; carpels 

 barely mucronulate, very numerous, in ellipsoidal or cylindrical heads; petals 

 scarcely exceeding the calyx. — Wet ditches and bogs ; sometimes appearing as if 

 introduced, June-Aug. — Stem thick and hollow ; juice acrid and blistering ; 

 leaves thickish ; flowers small, pale yellow. (Eu.) 



2. Most or all of the root-leaves merely crenate. 



16. R. micrdnthus Nutt. Villous; roots often fusiform-thickened, fascicu- 

 late ; root-leaves for the most part broadly obovate, scarcely if at all cordate at 

 the base, some of them 3-parted or pedately 3-divided ; the cauline subsessile, 

 divided into 3(-5) narrowly oblong leaflets; flowers very small; petals incon- 

 spicuous, light yellow ; receptacle glabrous. {B. abortivus, var. Gray.) — Open 

 deciduous woods, s. Me. to the Sask., and south w. 



16. R. abortivus L. (Small-flowerkd C.) Biennial, slightly succulent ; 

 stem 1.5-d dm. high, covered with a short sparse sometimes fugacious pubes- 

 cence ; primaiy root-leaves round-heart-shaped with a wide shallow sinus or 

 kidney-form, barely crenate, the succeeding often 3-lobed or 

 3-parted ; those of the stem and branches o-5-parted or divided, 

 subsessile, the divisions oblong or narrowly wedge-form, mostly 

 724 R abortivus toothed ; petals pale yellow, shorter than the small reflexed calyx : 

 Carnel x 4V ' receptacle villous ; carpels minute, merely nuicronulate. — Shady 



hillsides and along brooks, common. Apr.-June. Fig. 724. 

 Var. eucyclus Fernald. Stem slender, flexuous, not succulent ; I'oot-leavh: 

 larger (often 5-6 cm. broad), orbicular, deeply cordate with a narrow sinus, 

 thin. — Rich low woods, N. B. and Que. to Ct. 



b. Stigma borne on a distinct at first straightish at length more or less re- 

 curved style. 

 17 R. allegheniensis Britton. Habit and foliage closely as in B. aborti- 

 vus; stem glaucous; petals minute, pale yelloic ; achenes pro- 

 vided with a distinct recurved beak. — Moist places in rich woods, £^ 

 e. Mass. to Vt,, e. N. Y., and south w. to N. C., locally abundant. \iif 



18. R. HarvSyi (Gray) Britton. Also with the habit and '^'^^' ^ens"s!^''^°' 

 foliage of B. abortivus; root a fascicle of fusiform fibers; Carpel x4i4. 

 petals 5-8, oblong, 5-7 mm. in length, much larger than in ' 

 the related species preceding ; achenes tipped with a weak straightish beak 

 {B. abortivus, var. Gray.) — Kooky ground, s. Mo. (Bush) and Ark. 



Q 



