84 KEY AND FLORA 



2. Petals none, or very small and stamen-like. 



(a) Sepals yellow. Caltha, VIII 



(J) Sepals greenish or white, falling as the flower opens. 



Thalictrum, II 

 (c) Sepals white or colored, involucre sepal-like. Hepatica, IV 

 (rf) Sepals 4. Plants climbing. Clematis, VI 



(«) Sepals 5, white. Flowers axillary and terminal. Pods 

 2-several-seeded. Isopyrum, VII 



(/) Sepals white or colored. Plants not climbing. Akenes more 

 or less tailed with the styles in fruif. Anemone, V 



(jf) Sepals 5-10, white. Flowers in an umbel. Roots tuberous. 



Anemonella, III 



1. RANUNCULUS L. 



Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, usually'deeply 

 lobed or parted. Flowers axillary or in corymbs, white or 

 yellow. Sepals 3-6. Petals 3-5, flat, with a small pit or .scale 

 inside at the narrowed base. Stamens usually numerous. 

 Pistils few or several in a head. Akenes flattened, pointed.* 



1. R. pusillus Poir. Low Spearwort. Perennial. Stems several, 

 erect or ascending, branched, smooth, 6-15 in. high. Leaves entire or 

 slightly toothed, the lower round or cordate, long-petioled, the upper 

 lanceolate or elliptical, nearly or quite sessile. Flowers very small, 

 about -J in. wide, yellow. Petals 1-5, as long as the sepals. Stamens 

 3-10. Akenes smooth, with a very short point. On muddy banks.* 



2. R. abortivus L. Small-Flowered Crowfoot. Perennial. 

 Stems smooth, branching, 12-18 in. high. Basal leaves round-cor- 

 date, crenate, petioled. Stem leaves 3-5-parted, with wedge-shaped 

 or linear divisions, sessile. Flowers very small, pale yellow. Sepals 

 reflexed, longer than the petals. Akenes in a globose head, smooth, 

 without a beak. Common on wet ground and waste places.* 



3. R. recurvatus Poir. Hooked Crowfoot. Perennial. Stem 

 erect, hairy, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves all nearly alike, petioled, 3-5-Iobed, 

 with the lobes wedge-shaped, cut or toothed at the apex. Flowers 

 small, pale yellow. Petals minute, ..shorter than the reflexed sepals. 

 Akenes in a globular head, smooth, with a slender, recurved beak. 

 On low ground.* 



4. R. fasclcularis Muhl. Tufted Buttercup. Perennial. Stems 

 clustered from thickened fibrous roots, ascending, 5-9 in. high, cov- 

 ered with close-lying silky hairs. Leaves 3-5-divided, the divisions 



