RANUNCULUS. 



-what coloured, deTiduous leaves. Cor. Petals five, obtufc, 

 poliftied ; with fmall claws. Ncftary a cavity in each 

 petal, juft above the claw. Stam. Filaments very nume- 

 rous, half the length of the corolla ; anthers firmly united 

 therewith, ereft, oblong, obtufe, of two feparate lobes. 

 Pi/1. Germens numerous, coUefted into a head ; llylcs none ; 

 Itigmas reflexed, very fmall. Ptric. none. Receptacle befet 

 •with extremely minute ilalks, to which the feeds are at- 

 tached. Seeds numerous, naked, irregular, uncertain in 

 figure, with a reflexed point. 



Obf. The effential mark of this genus confilts, as Lin- 

 nxus remarks, in the nedlary, the reft of the parts being 

 uncertain ; lience he takes occafion to point out the ufe of 

 advertini( to that organ, which before his time had been 

 neglefted, and which his opponents acrufe him of fometimes 

 making of too much importance. The great .Tuflieu will 

 not, in this obvious cafe, ufe the language, though he 

 adopts, unacknowledged, the idea of Linnxus ; nor will he 

 allow the manifeft neftaries of fome of his Ranuxcui.ace.*: 

 (fee that article) to be other than petals. " Such," to 

 ufe his own words, in his preface, p. 26, " is the love ot 

 undivided praife !" 



The nedary in Ranunculus, fays Linnaeus, is, in fome 

 fpecies, a naked pore ; in fome it is bordered with a cylin- 

 drical margin ; in others clofed with a notched fcale. 

 Ficaria of authors has only a three-leaved calyx, with a 

 fuperabundance of petals. The feeds in fome fpecies are 

 roundilh^ in others deprefl'ed, prickly, and fewer in number. 

 R. hederaceus has but five ilamens ; falcatus has a fword- 

 fhaped point to each feed, and appendages to the bafe of the 

 calyx ; fcderatus, and a few .befides, have an awl-lhaped 

 receptacle, and confequently a fpiked fruit. 



EfT. Ch. Calyx of five leaves. Petals from five to eight, 

 with a honey-bearing pore in the claw of each. Seeds 

 naked. 



This extenfive genus is divided into two feflions, by the 

 form of the leaves. The fpecies are all herbaceous, gene- 

 rally of an acrid quality. The prevailing colour of the 

 flowers is yellow ; we know of none that are blue, except 

 by accidental variation in R. afw.Ucus. They are plants of 

 temperate or cold climates ; fome of them alpine. Linnaeus, 

 in Sp. PI. ed. 2, enumerates twenty-eight fpecies ; the 14th 

 edition of Syil. Veg. has forty-four, and Willdenow reckons 

 up fixty-one. Fifteen are natives of Britain, as mentioaed 

 in Fl. Brit. ; but the i ith fpecies in that work, parvulus of 

 Linnxus, muft be expunged, as a mere variety of hirjutus, 

 n. 8. The original number is, however, made up, by a new- 

 difcovered Scottifh fpecies, the alpejlris, figured in Engl. 

 Bot. v. 34. t. 2390. 



So many additions have been made to this genus by 

 the labours of Poiret in Lamarck's Diet. v. 6, and the 

 difcoveries of Michaux and Purib, that, with fome neceffary 

 oorreftions, and a few communications of our own, the whole 

 fubjeft requires to be detailed. 



Seft. I . Leaves Jlmple and unJl-vided. 

 I. R. Flammula. Lefier Spear-wort. Linn. Sp. PL 

 772. Willd. n. I. Ait. n. i. Fl. Brit. n. I. Engl. 

 Bot. t. 387. Curt. Lond. fafc. 6. t. 37. (R. flammeus 

 minor; Ger. Em. g6i, and R. flammeus ferratus ; ibid. 

 962.) — Leaves ovato-lanceolate, bluntifli, ftalked. Stem 

 declining. — Native of watery places throughout Europe, 

 flowering moft part of the fummer. Root perennial, of 

 long fimple fibres. Herb (bining, not quite fmooth, very 

 various in fize and luxuriance. Stems fpreading in every 

 direftion, round, leafy, hollow. Leaves many-ribbed, either 

 entire or varioufly ferrated. Flowers numerous, folitary, 

 o« long ftalks, of a bright golden yellow, half an inch or 



more in diameter. The whole plant is of an exceflively acrid 

 burning quality, faid to produce inflammation in the vifcera 

 of fheep, whence the name Jlammula, a little flame. Dr. 

 V/ithering recommends the diltillcd water, as preferable to 

 all other medicines, for procuring initantaneous vomiting 

 in cafes of poifon. 



2. R. reptans. Creeping Spear -wort. Linn. Sp. PI. 773. 

 Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 1 98. t. 3. f. 5. Lightf. 289; fig. in 

 frontifpiece to v. i. Fl. Dan. t. 108. — Leaves linear-lan- 

 ceolate. Stem creeping About the margins of alpine 



lakes, on a fandy foil ; common in Scotland, flowering in 

 June and July. We have always thought this a variety of 

 the former, as mentioned in Fl. Brit. ; but Willdenow con- 

 tends for the contrary. He truly adertr- that it differs iu 

 having a thread-fliaped creeping Jlem ; linear entire leaves, 

 tapering down into their footjlalks ; Jloiuer-Jlalks folitary, 

 eredt, iiEigle-flowered ; and much inviWer Jlotvers. Never- 

 thelefs, we have feen fo many intermediate varieties, and fuch 

 a difpofition in weak plants of the Flammula to take root at 

 their joints, that we moll incline to our original opinion, 

 fuggeiled firft by Linnx'us himfelf in his Sp. PI. 



3. R. Lingua. Great Spear-wort. Linn. Sp. PI. 773. 

 W^illd. n. 3. Ait. II. 3. Fl. Brit. n. 2. Engl. Bot. 

 t. 100. Fl. Dan. t. 755. ( R. flammeus major ; Ger. Em. 

 961. R. longifolius, lingua Plinii diftus, foliis ferratis ; 

 Ambrof. Phyt. 459.) — Leates lanceolate, pointed. Stem 

 ereft, many-flowered. In marfhes and muddy ditches, 

 chiefly in the nortliern parts of Europe ; rare in England ; 

 flowering in July. Thrice the fize of R. Flammula, and quite 

 ereft. Leaves more nearly felTile, and taper-pointed ; oc- 

 cafionally ferrated, as in the rude cut of Ambrofinus, but 

 not commonly fo. Calyx hairy. The whole herb is more 

 or lefs covered with clole-prefled hairs, vifible alfo in Flam- 

 mula. Floivers large and brilliant, very confpicuous. 



4. R. nodiflorus. Knot-flowered Crowfoot. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 773. Willd. n. 4. Ait. n. 4. Waldft. et Kitaib, 

 Hung. v. 2. 192. t. 176. Ait. (R. pariCenfis pumilus, 

 plantaginella; folio; Petiv. Gazoph. v. i. 6. t. 25. f. 4. 

 Vaill. Mem. de I'Acad. for 1719, Germ. ed. 324. t. 17. 

 f. 4. R. ficulus, &c. ; Petiv. Gaz. t. 24. f. 9, is a variety.) 

 — Leaves ovate, Italked. Flowers feffile. — In marfhy places 

 about Paris ; alfo in Sicily ; flowering in fummer. A 

 fmall, fmooth, annual plant, varying in luxuriance, and 

 having much the appearance of Limofella aquatica. Leaves 

 about an inch long, various in breadth, on very long ftalks. 

 Floivers fmall, folitary, feffile, axillary. Seeds taper- 

 pointed. 



5. R. fliftrmis. Slender Creeping Crowfoot. Michaux 

 Boreal-Amer. v. I, 320. Purfh h. 4. Lamarck Dift. 

 n. 4. — " Stem thread-fhaped, creeping, jointed, almoil 

 naked. Leaves linear-awlfhaped, obtufe. Flowers axillarv, 

 folitary, ftalked." — In inundated places, on the banks ot 

 the river St. Lawrence ; at Hudfon's bay and Labradore ; 

 flowering in June and July. This is defcribed as a very 

 finall, flender, fmooth fpecies, very much refembling R. 

 reptans, n. 2. We have feen no fpecimen. 



6. R.pujillus. Diminutive Crowfoot. Purfti n. 3. (R. 

 Flammula; Walt. Carol. 159. Michaux Boreal-Amer. v. i. 

 321; according to Purfti.) — "Smooth. Leaves ftalked ; 

 lower ones ovate, toothed ; upper linear-lanceolate, toothed 

 at the end ; uppermoft linear, like brafteas. Stalks alter- 

 nate, folitary, fingle-flowered." — Native of North America. 

 Perennial, flowering from June to Auguft. A fmall fpecies, 

 with exceeding fmall Jloioers. Petals pale yellow. Purjh. 

 A fpecimen from Kalm, unnamed, in the Linnsean herba- 

 rium, anfwers nearly to the above charafters, and yet feems 

 a variety of R, abortivus, hereafter mentioned. 



-. R. 



