RANUNCULUS. 



lower leavfs more deeply lobed than ufual, and fomewhat lefs 

 hairy. 



21. R. caffiibiciis. CafTubiaii Crowfoot. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 775. Willd. n. 16. Ail. 11. 12. ( R. aconitit'ohus, folio 

 rotundo, ad radicem prx^Rolantc ; Loef. Prufl. 22J. t. 72.) 

 — Radical leaves roiindifli-hcartniaped, crciiatc, undivided ; 

 item-leaves in fevcral deep, lanceolate, toothed and ja^iJed 

 fegments. Stem niany-llowered Native of PrudiH and Si- 

 beria, flowering in May. Mellrs. Loddiges are faid to have 

 introduced it into England, in 1794. Though tlie cliaradler 

 of this approaches the latl, the two plants are very different. 

 The radical leaves of the prefent, though heart-lhaped, arc 

 almoft orbicular, their two lobes meeting each other ; their 

 margin fliarply crenate, but not at all divided ; their furface 

 minutely downy. Stem much branched ; fmooth below ; 

 downy above ; bearing feveral fingered, veiny, fmooth, feflile 

 leaves ; the lower ones largeil, many-lobed, and jagred ; the 

 upper with only three lanceolate, entire lobes. Flozuers ra- 

 ther fmall, deep yellow. Calyx hairy towards the bafe. 

 Fruit ovats. Seeds hairy, roundifh, (lightly compreded, 

 each with a ftrongly revolute beak. 



22. R. auricomus. Wood Crowfoot, or Goldilocks. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 775. Willd. n. 17. Ait. n. 13. Purfli 

 n. 9. Fl. Brit. n. 5. Engl. Bot. t. 624. Cui't. Lond. 

 fafc. 2. t. 41. Fl. Dan. t. 66^. Ger. Em. 954. (R. 

 prima fpecies fylveftris ; Fuchf. Hiil. 156. Dalecii. Hilt. 

 V. I. 1029.) — Radical leaves kidney-fhaped, deeply three- 

 cleft, crenate ; (lem-leaves divided to the bafe into linear 

 fegments. Stem many-flowered. Calyx coloured. — Native 

 of woods and fliady places, throughout Europe ; alfo in 

 Pennfylvania ; flowering in April and May. Root fibrous, 

 perennial. Herb of a pale pleafant green, and deftitute of 

 the acrimony ufual in this genus. Stems a foot high, ereft, 

 branched, fcarcely downy, except near the top. Leagues 

 generally a little downy ; the radical ones on long Italics, 

 deeply divided into three or five, wedge-lhaped, crenate, or 

 cut lobes ; the relt in many linear, entire, or partially cut, 

 fpreading divifions. Flowers terminal, ereft, folitary at 

 the top of each branch, of a bright golden hue. Calyx 

 pale yellow, hairy, fcarcely at all reflexed. Neflary a 

 naked pore in each petal, not clofed by any fcale. In cold 

 backward feafons the petals are fometimes wanting, or ra- 

 ther identified with the calyx, which is then dilated, and 

 more coloured than ufual. 



23. R. abortivus. Small-flowered Virginian Crowfoot. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 776. Willd. n. ig. Ait. n. 14. Purfli 

 n. 6. — Radical leaves heart-lhaped, undivided, crenate ; 

 lower ftem-leaves pedate ; upper in three deep linear feg- 

 ments. Calyx reflexed, coloured. Petals obfolete. — In 

 wet places, by the fides of ponds and ditches, from New 

 York to Carolina, flowering in July and Augull. Purjl:. 

 In ponds at Buenos Ayres. Commerjon. This fpecies ap- 

 pears to have been cultivated in Chelfea garden 100 years 

 ago, but it has, long fince, dilappeared, nor has any author 

 given a figure of the plant. Its habit is moit Yx^efcehratus, 

 n. 26. Root perennial, of many long fibres. Herb fmooth. 

 Stem from fix to eighteen inches high, branched, leafy. Ra- 

 dical leaves like thofe of a violet, not an inch long, crenate, 

 fmooth ; their Jlalis two inches, or more, in length : lower 



Jlem-leaves ternate, iheir lateral leaflets deeply divided, all 

 cut or crenate : uppermoll ka-ves nearly feflile, in three deep, 

 lanceolate, entire divifions. Floiuers Imall ; yellow ac- 

 cording to Purfli, but Commerfon, in his MSS. calls them 

 flefli-coloured ; each Hands on a fimple folitary fl;alk, half 

 an inch or an inch long, either from the forks of the branches, 

 or at their fummits. The calyx is reflexed, large, membra- 

 nous-and coloured. We find fcarcely any certain traces of 



petals, but the plant may be variable in thcfe parts, like au- 

 ricomus. Slamois few. Germen large, globofe. — Linnaeut 

 took liis fpecific charadter, caule fubirtfloro, from fpecimens 

 not fully grown ; yet he had an autlientic one by him, with 

 above thirty flowers. In Commerfon's the upper lea-uei are 

 more (talked than ufual. 



24. R. nitidus. Varniflicd American Crowfoot. Walt. 



Carol. 159. Lamarck n. 68. Purfli n. 7. " Vert 



fmooth. Stems hollow. Radical leaves roundifli-kidncy- 

 fliaped, bluntly crenate ; item-leaves feflile, digitate ; their 

 leaflets cut, with blunt fegments. Seeds nearly globofe, 

 very fmootii." — In inundated grounds, from New York to 

 Carolina, flowering in .Inly and Augufl. - /foo/ perennial. 

 Flowers fmall. Petals white. This and the foregoing one 

 are probably only varieties. Purjh. 



25. R.trilobus. Threc-lobcd Barbary Crowfoot. Del 



font. Atlant. V. 1.437. t. 113. Willd. n. 19 Stemereft, 



much branched. Leaves fmooth, deeply three-lobed, cut • 

 uppermofl: linear, obtnfe, undivided. Flower-flalks flriated. 

 Seeds comprefl'ed, tuberculated. — Gathered by Desfon- 

 taines, in nioift fields, near Mayanc, in Barbary. He de- 

 Icribes it as akin to R. parvtflorus, except in its upright 

 growth, and fmooth, deeply three-lobed leaves. The lowed 

 leaf of all is undivided and crenate. Flowers very fmall, 

 yellow, fituated as in the two laft. Seeds in a round head, 

 fmall, comprefl'ed, orbicular with a point, covered with tu- 

 bercles on both fides. To us this fpecies feems, by its feeds, 

 allied to parvulus of Linnaeus, which is a variety of h'trfutus, 

 hereafter defcribed. 



26. R. fceleratus. Celery-leaved Water Crowfoot. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 776. Willd. n. 20. Ait. n. ij. Purfli n. 8. 

 Fl. Brit. n. 6. Engl. Bot. t. 681. Curt. Lond. fafc. 2. 

 t. 42. Fl. Dan. t. 571. (R. palultrisrotundifolius ; Ger. 

 Em. 962.) — Stem ereft, much branched. Lower leaves 

 palmate, fmooth ; upper ones fingered. Fruit oblong. 

 Seeds very numerous, minute. — Found about ditches and 

 in watery places by road fides, in moft; parts of Europe and 

 North America, flowering in fummer. Root annual. Herb 

 various in fize and luxuriance, of a pale (hining green, juicy, 

 very fmooth, except occafional hairinefs on the flower-iialks. 

 Stem round, thick and hollow. Lower leaves larger, broader, 

 lefs divided, and more (talked, than the upper ; the floral 

 ones moftiy lanceolate, fimple, and entire. Flowers nu- 

 merous, fmall, yellow. Calyx deflexed, (haggy. Ne^ary 

 fomewhat tubular. Stamens few. Seeds very fmall, but 

 exceflively numerous, making a denfe, oblong, obtufely 

 rounded head. This is one of the moft acrid of its tribe, 

 raifing blilters and dangerous fores in the (kin. 



27. R. aconitifollus. Aconite-leaved White Crowfoot. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 776. Willd. n. 21. Ait. n. 16. Curt. 

 Mag. t. 204. (R. montanus quartus ; alfo R. pleno flore 

 albo ; Cluf. Hid. v. i. 236. R. aconiti folio; Ger. Em. 

 954. R. albus multiflorus ; ib. 957. R. albus, flore denfo ; 

 Bauh. Hift. V. 3. 844, not 860.) — Leaves veiny, fmooth, in 

 five deep, pointed, toothed lobes ; the middle one three- 

 cleft : floral leaves felTile, fingered, lanceolate, cut. Stem 

 branched, many-flowered. — Native of the alps of Switzer- 

 land, France, Aultria, &c.; a hardy and long-eftablilhed 

 perennial in our gardens, flowering in Mi)' and June ; gene- 

 rally in a double ftate, as figured by Curtis. He remarks 

 that it requires moidure, fliade, and a pure air. The Jlem 

 is one and a half or two feet high, partly purplifli, fmooth, 

 with fpreading branches. Leaves dark green, with a glau- 

 cous hue beneath ; the radical ones on long ftalks ; the 

 relt nearly felTile ; all compofed of more or lefs diftindlly fe- 

 parate, often ftalked, leaflets, ftrongly veined and coarfcly 

 toothed ; the uppermoll fmaller, more fimple, quite feflile. 



Flewert 



