Myosurus.] I. EANUNCULA.CEAE. 5 



bracteoles linear, minute. Flowers fin. in diameter. Sepals 6—8, narrow- 

 linear, silky, subacute, spreading- Anthers short, broadly elliptic, with a 

 minute rounded appendage at the apex. Achenes ovate, slightly compressed, 

 villous or silky. — Raoul, Enum. 47; Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 7; Handbk. 



N.Z. Fl. 2. 



NORTH and SOUTH Inlands : Local— Whangaroa, Bay of Islands, Whangarei, Great Omaha, 

 East Cape, northern parts of Hawke's Bay. Oct., Nov. 



A graceful species, easily distinguished by the slender wiry steins, entire leaflets, and 

 especially the minute rounded apical appendage to the short broad anthers. The typical form 

 appears to be confined to the northern part of the North Island. C. marata has been distributed 

 under this name from Canterbury, and Mr. Buchanan mforms me that C. foetida has been mistaken 

 for it in Otago. 



Var. b. depauperata. Handbk. N.Z. FI. 2. Leaflets very small. Sepals narrowed into long 

 slender points. SOUTH Island : Nelson, W. T. L. Travers. 



Var. c. trilobata. Leaves submembranous ; leaflets deeply 3-lobate, segments entire or 

 lobed. Flowers smaller. Sepals more pubescent. NORTH Island : Bay of Islands, T. Kirk. 

 SOUTHIsland : Okarito, A. Hamilton ! 



2. MYOSURUS, Linn. 

 Annual herbs, with linear radical leaves and naked 1-flowered scapes. 

 Sepals 5—7, each with a minute spur at the base. Petals in the N.Z. species. 

 Stamens 5—7. Carpels numerous; ovule 1, pendulous. Achenes arranged in a 

 dense spike formed by the elongated floral receptacle, each with a raised nerve 

 at the back ; style persistent. 



Btym. Prom the Greek, signifying mouse and tail, in reference to the elongated fruit-spike. 

 Species, 2 — the present, and another found in northern temperate regions. Chili, and 

 Australia. 



1. M. aristatus, Benth. in Hook. Lond. Journ. Bot. vi. 459. Leaves 

 erect, linear or linear-spathulate, iin.— 2in. long, ^^m. wide or filiform. Scapes 

 slender, iiu.— Sin. long, naked, 1-flowered. Flower minute. Sepals with a 

 minute spur. Petals 0. Fruiting torus iin.— fin. long. Achenes numerous, 

 dense.— Hook, f., Fl. N.Z. i. 8; Handbk. 3. 



NORTH Island : Palliser Bay, Colenso. Ocean Beach, Cook Strait, Buchanan. SOUTH 

 Island : Lake Tekapo, Cheeseman ! Otago : Hyde, Ida Valley, Speargrass Flat, Alexandra, Petrie I 

 Gimmerburn, T. Kirk. Sea-level to 2,000ft. Usually in places where water has stagnated during 

 the winter. It has not been collected in the North Island for many years. Ic extends to California 

 and South Chili, where it ascends to 11,500ft. Nov., Dec. 



3. RANUNCULUS, Linn. 



Sepals usually 5, rarely 4 or 3. Petals 4—20, usually with 1—3 small 



nectariferous pits at the base. Carpels usually numerous, each with a short 



persistent straight or hooked style and one ascending ovule. Herbs, mostly 



with radical entire or divided leaves, and yellow or white flowers. 



Species, 175, chiefly distributed through the temperate and cold regions of both hemispheres. 

 The New Zealand species comprise several of the most beautiful known. The majority are endemic ; 

 four species extend to Australia. Several European species are naturalised. 



1. Hecatonia. Carpels glabrous or rarely silky. Perennial or rarely 

 annual herbs, tufted, or creeping or floating. Flowers white or yellow. 



