RANUNCULUS. 



T.R.gramkns. Gran"y Crowfoot. Linn. Sp. PI. 773. 10. K. ophiogtojaidts. Serpent's-tongue Crowfoot. Willd 



Willd. n. 5. Alt. n. 5. Fl. Bnt. n. 3. Engl. Bot. t. 2306. n. 8. ( R. ophioglofnfolius ; Villars Dauph. v. ». 7,, 

 Curt. Mag. t. 164. Bulliard. t^ 123. — Leaves linear-ianceo- 1.49.) — Stem fimple, tre6t, leafy ' 3 /j 



late, glaucous, many-ribbed, fedile. Stemcreft, very frnooth 

 throughout, with few flowers. Fruit globofe. — Native of 

 mountainous fituations in the fouth of France. Gerard. In 

 Italy, Column. Ecphr. 314. Withering fays it was brought 

 from North Wales by Mr. Pritchard. Willdenow mentions 

 moid meadows in France as its native ftation, for which we 

 can find no authority. The plant thrives in England in 

 rather dry gardens, flowering in May or June, and is peren- 

 nial. The grafl'y, broadifh, glaucous leaves, and large golden 

 fioiuers, readily diftinguilh this fpecies. The root is tube- 

 rous and round. Stem twelve or eighteen inches high. Calyx 

 very fmooth, fpreading, not deflexed. The fruit is de- 

 icribed as globofe. We have not feen it ripe. 



8. R. pyrenxus. Pyrenean Crowfoot. Linn. Mant. 248. 

 Willd. n. 6. Jacq. Mifc. v. i. 154. t. 18. f. i. (R. pumi- 

 lus, gramineis foliis ; Bauh. Hift. v. 3. append. 850. R. 

 n. 1 180; Hall. Hift. V. 2. 77.) /3. R. plantagineus ; Al- 

 lion. Pedem. n. 1445. v. 2. 48. t. 76. f. i. — Leaves linear. 



lanceolate, many-ribbed, (talked. Stem ereft, with one or but not, as far as we know, of the Swifs Alps, Halkr hav- 

 two flowers; woolly at the top. Fruit fomewhat cylindri- ing miftaken his n. 1179, which n parnaJifoHus, for this 

 cal. Seeds with recurved beaks. — Native of the Pyrenees, fpecies. It is a hardy perennial in our gardens, not diificult 

 as well as of the Alps of Switzerland, Dauphiny, and Ca- of culture, yet not common, flowering in May. The herbage 

 rinthia. Linnaeus, for a long while, confounded this with is glaucous. Stem cred, leafy, twelve or fifteen inches high, 

 the laft, and many botanifts have confidered them as hardly branched above. Leaves generally more or lefs fringed with 

 to be diftinguiflied, but by the colour of the /owerj-. The foft hairs. Calyx green, fmooth, concave, partly mem- 

 leaves of the prefent Tary greatly in breadth, being fome- branous and white at the edge. Petals of a pure and bril- 



n. 8. 



■ , Lower leaves ovate, 

 or hcart-fhapcd, many-ribbed, on long ftalks ; upper linear- 

 lanceolate, fcffile. — Found between Toulon and Hycres m 

 Provence, by M. Villars, who mentions having feen a draw- 

 ing of the fame plant, in the royal colleftion at Paris, 

 marked R. lefbius palullris, ophioglofli folio ; Tourn. Cor. 

 20. The root is defcribed by Villars as fomewhat bulbous, 

 or tuberous, with many whorls of fibres. Stem eredt, a foot' 

 high. Leaves fmooth, rather flilhy. Flowers fmall, yel- 

 low, with fliiniiig/)rf,i/j. 5mA- in a fmall roundhead.' He 

 conceives it fomewhat allied to R. I lammula. The refem- 

 blancc of the leaves, in his plate, to parnajjifolius, feems to 

 have induced Willdenow to range it here. We have feen 

 no Ipeeimen. 



11. R. amplexiraulis. Plaintain-leaved Crowfoot. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 774. Willd. n. 9. Ait. n. 7. Curt. Mag. t. 266. 

 (R. toho plantaginis ; Ger. Em. 963.)— Leaves ovate, point- 

 ed, glaucous, clalping the many-flovvcred ilem. Root fafcicu- 

 lated. — Native of the Apcnnine and Pyrenian mountains, 



times quite narrow and linear ; but in variety /3 they are el 

 liptical, and an inch wide. They appear to be green, not 

 glaucous. The upper part of the Jlem, quite fmooth in R. 

 gram'meus, is always hairy, and under the flower is denfely 

 woolly, in the prefent fpecies. The petals are pure white. 

 Fruit nearly cylindrical. Seeds with elongated, remarkably 

 recurved, points. Few plants vary more in luxuriance. 



A moft remarkable variety, as Haller and Villars elleem 

 it, is the R. lacerus, Bellardi Append, ad Flo. Pedem. 27. 

 t. 6, of which we have a fpecimen frorfi the author himfelf. 

 In this the Jlem is branched, bearing thirteen or fourteen 

 Jlowers, but its chief fingularity confifts in the jagged, and 

 partly almoft palmate, leaves, which neverthelefs bear all 

 the marks of cafual luxuri.ance. We have a fpecimen of 

 Allioni's/)/<7n/(7o-mf!M, our variety /3, which, by a tooth or 

 two in fome of the leaves, evinces an approach towards this 

 lacerus ; and we hare another of the fame with four flowers 

 on one ftem. 



9. R. parnajjifolius. Parnaflia-leaved Crowfoot. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 774. Willd. n. 7. Ait. n. 6. Curt. Mag. t. 386. 

 Wulf. in Jacq. Coll. v. i. 191. t. 9. f. 3, without leaves. 

 (R. n. 1179; Hall. Hilt. V. 2. 77. Herb. Davall.)— 

 Leaves many -ribbed ; radical ones roundifli-ovate, fomewhat 

 heart-fhaped, on long ilalks ; Item-leaves 0"ato-lanceolate, 

 pointed, feflile. — Native of the Alps of Switzerland, Dau- 

 phiny and Carinthia, as well as of the Pyrenees, from all 

 which countries we have received fpecimens. The plant is 

 efteemed very rare, and Wulfen regrets that he loft the root 

 and leaves of his only fpecimen ; fo that Mr. Curtis has 

 rendered a valuable fervice to botanifts by his excellent 



liant white. Anthers yellow, as in other fpecies. We li;... 

 never feen the ripe feeds. 



12. R. helerophyllus. Various-leaved Slender Crowfoot. 

 (R. bonarienfis; Lamarck Dift. n. 9.) — Leaves ftalked, 

 toothed, heart-fhaped or ovato-lanceelate, with three central 

 ribs. Stem ereft. Flowers ftalked, folitary, oppofite to 

 the leaves. Seeds obtufe, granulated. — Gathered by Com- 

 merfon at Buenos Ayres, in marfliy places. Root fibrous.- 

 Stem ereft, a foot or more in height, (lender, fmooth, ftri- 

 ated, branched, leafy. Leaves alternate, on long ftalks ; 

 the lower ones ovate, or heart-fliaped ; the upper lanceolate, 

 or ovate ; all obtufe, more or lefs crenate or toothed, about 

 an inch long, fmooth, furnifhed with three central ribs, and 

 feveral lateral branching veins. Footjlalks bordered at their 

 bafe ; the lowermoft much the longeit. Flotvers very fmall, 

 whitifli, on folitary, ftraight, fimple, lateral ftalks, an inch 

 or an inch and half long, oppofite to the leaves. Fruit 

 ovate. Seeds obtufe, or obovate, rough with minute points. 

 The calyx is fmooth and reflexed, often remaining till the 

 feeds are ripe. 



13. R.JlageHiformis. Long-ftalked Crowfoot. — Leaves 

 on long (talks, heart or kidncy-fhaped, wavy or crenate. 

 Stem creeping, thread-fhaped. Flowers ftalked, folitary, 

 oppofite to the leaves. Petals ovate. Seeds obtufe, dotted. 

 — Native of Chili and New Granada. We have fpecimens 

 from Mutis and Cavanilles, but this fpecies does not feem 

 to be any where defcribed. The Jlems are long, thread- 

 fhaped, much branched, proftrate, creeping or perhaps 

 floating, fending out from each joint long fibrous radicles, 

 and one or more fmooth, roundi(h, heart-fhaped or kidney- 



figure. This is a fingularly elegant fpecies, on account of Itiaped leaves, hardly an inch wide ; ihtlT footjlalks meafur. 



its leaves, which refemble our Parnajfia, as well as for its 

 large and brilliant white flowers, with their rofe-coloured 

 calyx. "TheWJlalis are woolly. Fruit ovate. Seeds obovate, 

 obtufe, with fhort incurved beaks. The root is perennial, 

 formed of copious, very long, pale fibres, as if it grew in 

 watery places, but Haller fays it inhabits ftony alpine fitua- 

 tions, being quite common in his own territory of Aigle. 



\ 



ing from two to three inches. Flowers very fmall, white, 

 folitary, oppofite to the leaves, on (lender _flalhs, rather 

 fhorter than thofe of the foliage. Stamens few. Fruit rather 

 oblong. Seeds obovate, obtufe, compreffed, minutely dotted. 

 This Ranunculus is perhaps moft nearly akin to our Britiftj 

 hederaceut, hereafter defcribed, though very certainly diltinCl, 

 and as the fpecies are at prefent arranged, they mult remain 

 3 G 3 at 



