12 RANIJNCULACE^. Ranunculus. 



Whole plant smooth, and of a yellowish green color. Stem 1-2 feet long, somewhat 

 branching : leaves 3-6 inches long, and from one quarter to nearly an inch in breadth ; upper 

 ones acuffe at each end ; lower ones more or less obtuse at the base. Peduncles 1-2 inches 

 long. Flowers nearly half an inch in diameter. Carpels in a globose head, beaked. 



A common plant in low wet grounds, ditches, and about springs, flowering from July to 

 August. Fruit ripe in November. It is one of the most acrid of the genus, and is sometimes 

 employed in domestic practice for bhstering the skin. The distilled water is used as an 

 emetic. See Wood ^ Bache's U. S. Dispens. p. 543. 



3. Ranunculus reptans, Linn.. Least Spearicort. 



Leaves linear or lanceolate-linear, acute at each end, smooth, entire ; stem creeping (rooting 

 at the joints) ; carpels dotted, with a minute blunt point. — DC. prodr. 1. p. 32. 



var. fdiformis, DC. : stem filiform, creeping extensively ; leaves linear ; flowers small. — 

 Torr. <$■ Gr.fl. N. Am. \.p. 16. R. filiformis, Miclix. fl. \.p. 320 ; Pursh, fl. 2. p. 392 ; 

 Bart.fl. Am. Sept. 2. p. 101. t. 70, f. 2; Bigel. fl. Bost. p. 224. 



Stems numerous, 6-12 inches or more in length, producing leaves and roots at the joints. 

 Leaves scarcely one line in breadth, but occasionally broader and somewhat lanceolate. 

 Flowers 3-4 lines in diameter. Petals obovate. Carpels roundish, ovoid, the beak very 

 short and oblique. 



Sandy banks of rivers and lakes ; rather rare. It is abundant on the shores of the Hudson, 

 about Albany and Troy ; on Lake Erie, near Sackett's Harbor ; Chenango County {Dr. Knies- 

 kern), and in a few other places. Flowering from July to August. 



4. Ranunculus pusillus. Pair. SmaU-Jloioered Crmcfoot. 



Stem usually erect ; leaves all petiolate, the lower ones ovate and subcordate, entire or 

 sparingly toothed, upper ones linear-lanceolate ; petals usually 3 (sometimes 1 - 5), as long 

 as the calyx ; carpels ovate, smooth, with a minute blunt point. — Pair. diet. 6. p. 99 ; Pursh, 

 Jl. 2. p. 312 ; Ell. sk. 2. p. 58 ; DC. prodr. 1 . p. 32 ; Deless. ic. l.t.2S; Darlingt.fl. Cest. 

 p. 328; Torr. ^ Gr.jl. N. Amer. I. p. 17. 



var. muticus : carpels without any beak. — Torr. <^ Gr. 1. c. 



A dwarf species, the only locality of which, in this State, so far as I can learn, is on the 

 Island of New-York. It occurs sparingly in the low grounds of Bloomingdale, about five 

 miles from the City Hall ; flowering in July. When it throws up numerous stems, it is 

 sometimes decumbent. 



5. Ranunculus Cymbalaria, Pursh. Sea Crowfoot. 



Stoloniferous ; leaves cordate, ovate or reniform, petioled, obtuse, coarsely crenate ; scape 



