RANUNCULACEAE CROWFOOT FAMILY 



This large family is confined mostly to the northern 

 hemisphere. It is not of very great economic importance 

 except that some of its members, such as Peonies and 

 Larkspurs, are much prized as garden flowers and orna- 

 mental plants. 



The Buttercups, or genus Ranunculus, contain an 

 acrid juice which makes them unpalatable to horses and 

 cattle. For this reason they often form tufts of green 

 untouched herbage in an otherwise closely grazed pasture. 

 Their genus name is derived from the Latin rana meaning 

 frog, and was used because some of the Buttercups grow 

 in places where frogs are abundant. 



In using the key to the genera it must be remembered 

 that the calyx is often colored like a corolla, especially 

 when the corolla is lacking, and when only one set of 

 organs is present in addition to stamens and pistils it is 

 ordinarily a calyx rather than a corolla. The genus 

 Hepatica is likely to be troublesome because its sepals 

 look like petals and there is a 3-leaved involucre close 

 under the flower that looks like a calyx. 



KEY TO GENERA 



1. Climbing plants Clematis p. io6 



Plants not climbing 2 



2. Petals present 3 



Petals lacking 5 



3. Petals produced backward into spurs Aquilegia p. no 



Petals flat 4 



4. Pistils numerous Ranunculus p. 96 



Pistils I or 2; fruit a berry Actaea p. 1 1 1 



5. Flowers imperfect Thalictriitn p. loo 



Flowers perfect 6 



6. Flowers yellow C alt ha p. 109 



Flowers not yellow 7 



7. Leaves or leaflets about 3-lobed but without small teeth. . . .8 

 Leaves or leaflets toothed 10 



8. Plants hairy Hepatica p. 102 



Plants smooth 9 



9. Ovaries i-seeded; fruit an akene Anemonella p. loi 



Ovaries 2-several-seeded; fruit a pod Isopyrum p. 108 



10. Sepals 3, falling off as flowers open Hydrastis p. 1 12 



Sepals more than 3 hiemone p. 103 



95 



