'2 COMMON CANADIAN WILD PLANTS.' 



Order I. RANUNCULA'CE^S. (Crowfoot Family.) 



Herbs or woody cUmbers, with an acrid colourless juice. 

 Parts of the flower separate from each other. COio^la some- 

 times wanting. Stamens numerous. Pistil (with one or 

 two exceptions) apocarpous. Fruit an achene, follicle, or 

 berry. Leaves exstipulate, with the blades usually dis- 

 sected, and petioles spreading at the base. 



Synopsis of the Genera. 



1. Clciii'atis. Real petals none or stamen-like. Coloured sepals 4 ov 



more, valvate in the bud. li'ruit an achene, with the lon^ and 

 feathery style attached. Leaves all opposite. Plant climbing by 

 the bending of the petioles. 



2. Aii4^iuo']ie. Petals none or stamen-like. Coloured sepals imbri- 



cated in the bud. Achenes many, in a head, pointed or tailed, 

 not ribbed. Stem-leaves opposite or whorled, forming an invo- 

 lucre remotefroim thejiower. . 



3. Ilcpiit'Ica. Petals none. Coloured sepals J5-12, whitish or bluish. 



Achenes many,' not ribbed. Leaves' all radical. An invoCncre of 

 3 leaves close to thejiower, and liable to be mistaken for a calyy' ' 



4. Tlialic'triini. Petals none. Coloured sepals 4 or more, greenish. 



Achenes several, angled or grooved. No involucre. Stem-leaves 

 alternate, decompound. Flowers in panicles or corymbs, mostl^> 

 dioecious. 



5. Myosii'riis. Petals .5, white, with slender claws. Sepals .5, spurred 



at the base, , Achenes in a long slender spilce. Small plants with 

 tufted narrow root-leaves, andl-flowered scapes. 



6. Raiiiin'cnlHS. Sepals 5, deciduous. Petals generally 5, eacA with 



a pit or little scale on the inside of the claw. Achenes many. In 

 head" short-pointed. Stem-leaves alternate. Flowers solitary 

 or corymbed, mostly 'yellow, rarely white. 



7. Cal'tlin. Petals none. Sepals .5-9, yellow. Fruit a many-seeded 



follicle. Leaves large, glabrous, heart-shftped or kidney-shaped, 

 mostly crenate. Stem hollow and furrowed. 



8. Cop'tis. Sepals ii-?, white, deciduous. Petals 5-7, yellow with 



slender claws, and somewhat tubular at the apex. Carpels 3-7, 

 on slender stalks. Fruit a follicle. Flowers on naked scapes. 

 Leaves r.adical, shining, divided into three wedge-shaped leaflets, 

 sharply toothed. Root fibrous, golden yellow. 



9. Aqiiilo gia. Sepals .'), coloured. Petals .'), each a long lioUow spur. 



Carpels 6. Follicles erect, many-seeded. Flowers very showy, 

 terminating the branches. Leaves decompound. 



