RANUNCULACEAE (CROWFOOT FAMILY) 



flowers 1-1.8 cm. in diameter; sepals reflexed in anthesis ; head of fruit ovoid; 

 achenes small., flat, strongly margined, the faces sometimes a little warty ; style 

 short, erect. — Waste places, ballast, etc., Philadelphia and southw. (Adv 

 from Eu.) 



25. R. pennsylvanicus L. f. (Bristly C.) Stout and erect from a usually 

 annual root, hirsute with widely spreading bristly hairs, leafy to the top, 4-6 dm. 

 high ; leaves all ternately divided or compound, the stalked leaflets unequally 

 3-cleft, sharply cut and toothed, acute ; flowers inconspicuous ; sepals reflexed ; 

 carpels obscurely margined, in a short-cylindi'ic head ; receptacle cylindro-conical. 

 — Wet places. June-Aug. (Asia.) 



26. R. Macoiinii Britton. Resembling the last, but the ascending or reclin- 

 ing stems few-leaved, rarely if ever rooting, not always hirsute ; petals (about 



6 mm. long) surpassing the hardly reflexed and soon decidu- 

 ous calyx ; achenes with a stout straight beak, in a globose 

 or ovoid head ; receptacle thick, obovoid. (i?. hispidus Man. 

 ed. 6.) — Que. to L. Superior, "la.," and westw. Fig. 730. 

 27. R. bulb6sus L. (Bulbous C. or B.) Hairy; stem 

 730. E. Macounii. (3 dm. high) erect from a bulb-like base ; radical leaves 

 Flower X 5/7. 3-divided ; the lateral divisions sessile, the terminal stalked 



Carpel xiVz- and 3-parted, all wedge-shaped, cleft and toothed; peduncles 



furrowed ; petals round, wedge-shaped at base ; calyx re- 

 flexed ; carpels tipped with a very short beak. — Fields ; very abundant only in 

 N. E. ; rare westw. May-July. — Leaves appearing as if pinnate. Petals 

 ■)ften 6 or 7, deep glossy yellow, the corolla more than 2.5 cm. broad. (Nat. 

 irom Eu.) 



28. R. XcRis L. (Tall C. or B.) Hairy ; stem erect (6-9dm.high) ; leaves 

 3-divided ; the divisions all sessile and 3-cleft or parted, their segments cut into 

 lanceolate or linear crowded lobes ; peduncles not furrowed ; petals obovate, 

 much longer than the spreading calyx. — Fields; common, especially eastw. 

 June-Aug. — Flowers nearly as large as the last, but not so deep yellow. 

 (Nat. from Eu.) Var. Steveni (Andrz.) Lange. Leaf-segments broadly ob- 

 lanceolate or even obovate-cuneate. — Moist meadows, N. E. and northeastw. ; 

 not rare. (Nat. from Eu.) 



* * Achenes beset with rough points or small prickles; annuals. 



29. R. muricXtus L. Nearly glabrous ; lower leaves roundish or reniform, 

 3-lobed, coarsely crenate ; the upper 3-cleft, wedge-form at the base ; petals 

 longer than the calyx; carpels flat, spiny -tuberculate on the sides, strongly 

 beaked, surrounded with a wide and sharp smooth unarmed margin. — Wet 

 places, e. Va. and southw. (Nat. from Eurasia.) 



.30. R. ARVENSis L. Similar to the preceding, but segments of the cauline 

 leaves more narrow and acute ; carpels armed on the thick border as well as the 

 surfaces. — Waste places, N. J. to O. (Sparingly adv. from Eu.) 



31. R. parvifl6rus L. Hairy, slender and diffuse ; lower leaves roundish- 

 cordate, .3-cleft, coarsely toothed or cut; the upper 3-5-parted ; petals not longer 

 than the calyx; carpels minutely hispid and rough, beaked, narrowly margined. 

 - Waste places, etc., Md. and Va. to Fla. and Tex. (Nat. from Eu.) 



2. MYOStRUS [Dill.] L. Mouse-tail 



Sepals 5, spurred at the base. Petals 5, small and narrow, raised on a slen- 

 der claw, at the summit of which is a nectariferous hollow. Stamens 5-20. 

 Achenes numerous, somewhat 3-sided, crowded on a very long and slender spike- 

 ^ike receptacle (whence the name, from aOs, a mouse, and ohpd, a tail), the seed 

 suspended. — Little annuals, with tufted narrowly linear-spatulate root-leaves, 

 and naked 1-flowered scapes. Flowers small, greenish. 



1. M. minimus L. Fruiting spike 2-5 cm. long ; achenes quadrate, blunt. — 

 Alluvial ground, etc.. 111. to Assina., N. Mex., and Fla.; also at Bellevillej Ont. 

 iMacoun) ; and reported from e. Va. CEu.) 



