48 POLYANDRIA— POLYGYNIA. Ranunculus. 



R. rotundifolius vernus sylvaticus. Bauh. Hist. v. 3.841. f. 



R. pratensis erectus dulcis. Bauh. Pm.\79. Moris, v. 2. 439 ■ t.28. 

 /. 15. 



In dry groves, bushy and shady places, not uncommon. Mr, Cur- 

 tis justly remarks that it rarely occurs in marshy ground. 



Perennial. April, May. 



Root fibrous. Stem about a foot high, erect, branched, leafy, round, 

 the upper part often slightly downy. Leaves seldom quite 

 smooth; often finely downy; radical ones on long stalks, round- 

 ed or kidney-shaped, crenate, some of them 3-lobed, or ,5-lobed, 

 cut ; those on the stem sessile, in deeper and narrower seg- 

 ments ; uppermost in 3 or more linear, quite entire, lobes, 

 Fl. terminal, stalked, solitaiy, of a bright golden yellow, of which 

 the pale, hairy, never reflexed, cabjx often partakes. Some- 

 times the part last mentioned is dilated and coloured, assuming 

 the aspect of petals, which in that case are wanting. Nect. a 

 naked pore. 



This species, having no acrimony, has been termed dulcis, or Sweet 

 Wood Crowfoot. The great and constant diversity of form in 

 the leaves, especially the narrow linear shape of the upper ones, 

 distinguish it readily. 



6. R. sceleratus. Water Crowfoot. Celery-leaved 

 Crowfoot. 



Stem erect, hollow, much branched. Leaves smooth ; lower 

 ones palmate ; upper fingered. Fruit oblong. Seeds very 

 numerous, minute. 



R. sceleratus. Linn. Sp. PI. 776. Willd. v. 2. 131.5. Fl. Br. 590, 

 Engl.Bot.v.lO.t. 681. Curt.Lond. fasc. 2. t. 42. Hook. Scot. \7 4. 

 DeCand.Syst.v.X. 268. Fl. Dan. t. 571. Bull.Fr.t.47. Ehrh. 

 PI. Off. 386. 



R. n. 1175. Hall. Hist. V. 2. 74. 



R, palustris, Raii Syn. 249. Cord. Hist. 119, 2./, 



R. palustris rotundifolius, Ger. Em. 962. f. 



R. palustris, flore minimo. Bauh. Hist. v. 3. 846./. 



R. secunda species. Fuchs. Hist. 159./. 



R. primus. Camer. Epit. 380. f. 



Apium aquaticum. Trag. Hist. 93. f. 



Common in watery places. 



Annual. June — August. 



Root fibrous. Herb very acrid, juicy, various in luxuriance, from 6 

 inches to 2 feet high, of a pale shining green, very smooth, ex- 

 cept occasionally the Jlower-stalks and upper part of the stem, 

 which are now and then hairy. Stem thick, round, hollow, re- 

 peatedly branched, leafy. Lower leaves stalked, rounded, bluntly 

 lobed and cut ; upper sessile, with deeper and narrower seg- 

 ments ; uppermost of all, accompanying the flowers, lanceolate. 



