84 KEY AND FLORA 
2. Petals none, or very small and stamen-like. 
(a) Sepals yellow. Caltha, VIII 
(b) Sepals greenish or white, falling as the flower opens. 
° Thalictrum, II 
(c) Sepals white or colored, involucre sepal-like. Hepatica, IV 
(d) Sepals 4. Plants climbing. Clematis, VI 
(e) Sepals 5, white. Flowers axillary and terminal. Pods 
2-several-seeded. Tsopyrum, VII 
(f) Sepals white or colored. Plants not climbing. Akenes more 
or less tailed with the styles in fruit. Anemone, V 
(g) Sepals 5-10, white. Flowers in an umbel. Roots tuberous. 
Anemonella, IIT 
I. RANUNCULUS L. 
Annual or perennial herbs. Leaves alternate, usually deeply 
lobed or parted. Flowers axillary or in corymbs, white or 
yellow. Sepals 3-5. 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 } 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. Smax.i-FLowERED CrowrootT. 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. HooxkEep Crowroot. Perennial. Stem 
erect, hairy, 1-2 ft. high. Leaves all nearly alike, petioled, 3—5-lobed, 
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. fascicularis Muhl. Turtep Butrercur. 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 
