CROWFOOT FAMILY. 37 



high ; stem-leaves not raised on a general petiole ; flowers greenish and pur- 

 plish; anthers short-linear, drooping on capillary and upwardly rather thickened 

 filaments. 



T. Cornuti, TALL M. Herb 4 - 8 high ; stem-leaves not raised on a 

 general petiole ; flowers white, in summer ; anthers oblong, not drooping ; the 

 white filaments thickened upwards, how or wet ground. 



5. ADONIS. (The red-flowered species fabled to spring from the blood 

 of Adonis, killed by a wild boar.) Stems leafy; leaves finely much cut 

 into very narrow divisions. Cult, from Europe for ornament 



A. autumnalis, PHEASANT'S-EYE A. Stems near 1 high, it or the 

 branches terminated by a small flower, of 5-8 scarlet or crimson petals, com- 

 monly dark at their base. Has run wild in Tennessee. 



A. vernalis, SPRING A. U Stems about 6' high, bearing a large showy 

 flower, of 10-20 lanceolate light-yellow petals, in early spring. 



6. MYOSURUS, MOUSETAIL (which the name means in Greek). 

 M. minimus. An insignificant little plant, wild or run wild along streams 



from Illinois S., with a tuft of narrow entire root-leaves, and scapes 1' -3' high, 

 bearing an obscure yellow flower, followed by tail-like spike of fruit of l'-2' 

 long, in spring and summer. 



7. RANUNCULUS, CROWFOOT, BUTTERCUP. (Latin name for 

 a little frog, and for the Water Crowfoots, living with the frogs.) A large 

 genus of wild plants, except the double-Howered varieties of three species cult, 

 in gardens for ornament. (Lessons, p. 183, fig. 358 -361.) 



1 . Aquatic ; the leave* a/I or mostly under water, and repeaiedly dissected into 

 many capillary divisions : flowering all summer. 



R. aquatilis, WHITE WATER-CROWFOOT. Capillary leaves collapsing 

 into a tuft when drawn out of the water ; petals small, white, or only yellow at 

 the base, where they bear a spot or little pit, but no scale : akenes wrinkled 

 crosswise. 



R. divaricatus, STIFF W. Like the last, but less common ; the leaves 

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

 drawn out of water. 



R. multlfidus, YELLOW W. Leaves under water much as those of the 

 White Water Crowfoot-', or rather larger ; but the britrht yellow petals as large 

 as those of Common buttercups, and, like them, with a little scale at the base. 

 (Formerly named R. PURSHII, &c.) 



2. Terrestrial, man// in wet places, but naturally growing with the foliage out of 

 water : petals ivith the little scale at the base, yellow in all the wild species. 

 * Akenes not prickly nor bristly nor stnate on the sides, 1J. 



+ SPEARWORT CROWFOOTS ; growimi in very wet places, with mostly entire and 

 narrow leaves : ft. a/I summer. 



R. alismsefdlius. Stems ascendins, l-2 high; leaves lanceolate or the 

 lowest oblong ; flower fully ' in diameter ; akenes beaked with a straight and 

 slender "style. 



R. Flammula. Smaller than the last, and akenes short-pointed ; rare 

 N., but very common along borders of ponds and rivers is the 



Var. rdptans, or CREEPING S., with slender stems creeping a few inches in 

 length ; leaves linear or spatulate, seldom 1' long ; flower only ^ broad. 



- -t- SMALL-FLOWERED CROWFOOTS ; in wet or moist places, with upper 

 leaves 3-parted or divided, and very small flowers, the petals shorter or not longer 

 than the calyx : fl. spring and summer. 



R. abortivus, SMALL-FLOWERED C. Very smooth and slender, 6' - 2 

 high ; root-leaves rounded, crenate ; akenes in a globular head. Shady places, 

 along watercourses. 



R^ sceleratus, CURSKD C. So called because the juice is very acrid and 

 blistering ; stouter than the last and thicker-leaved, equally smooth, even the 



