FLOWERING PLANTS. 37 
in Scotland, where it has not been observed farther north than the 
county of Moray on the east, and the neighbourhood of Glasgow on 
the west. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Spring. 
Plant often growing in tufts, with numerous stems, very slightly 
branched above, curved at the base, then erect or inclined. Radical 
leaves numerous, and varying much in shape and division on the 
same individual. Stem leaves only placed at the points where 
branches are given off, with 5 to 9 narrow segments; those which 
are situated lowest on the stem often cut, or furnished with pro- 
jecting lobes; the uppermost leaves quite entire, and narrower. 
Flowers when perfect often 1 inch in diameter; but very frequently 
several of the petals are abortive or deformed. In Scotch specimens 
I have very seldom found the flowers perfect; but in Kent and 
Surrey they are generally so. Achenes slightly granulated under a 
lens, and often with a few short hairs on the surface; beak at first 
revolute, but only curved when the fruit is mature. Receptacle 
very curious, having projecting cylindrical processes about 44 inch 
long, a character first pointed out in the last edition of Professor 
Babington’s Manual of British Botany. Plant bright yellowish 
green, almost glabrous, having only very short remote hairs, except 
on the peduncles. 
Beak of the fruit longer than in most of the following species, 
from which it may be readily distinguished by the absence of a 
scale over the nectary. 
Wood Crowfoot. Golden-haired Crowfoot, or Goldilocks. 
The specific name Awricomus is derived from aureus, golden, and coma, a lock of 
hair. I¢ differs remarkably from the rest of the Ranunculus tribe, in that it is not at 
all acrid ; and it has been called Sweet Wood Crowfoot. 
SPECIES XIII—-RANUNCULUS ACRIS. Lia. 
Pirate XXXII. 
Rootstock short, not enlarged. Stem erect. Radical leaves 
stalked, pentagonal in outline, tripartite or 3-cleft, with the segments 
more or less deeply cut and toothed. Lower stem leaves similar, 
but on shorter stalks; uppermost ones sessile, with narrower, often 
entire segments. Peduncles hairy, not furrowed. Sepals hairy, 
applied to the petals, which have a conspicuous scale over the 
nectary. Head of fruit globular. Achenes compressed, smooth to 
the naked eye, conspicuously margined, and terminated by a short, 
more or less curved beak. Receptacle glabrous. 
