RANUNCULUS. 



cylindrical. Seeds comprcn'cd, with llraipjlit t)eal<.s. — Native 

 of low meadows, from Canada to Pciifylvania, but rare, 

 flowering in July and Aiij^ull. This fpecies was fent by 

 profelFor Thunbero;, in 1785, to Kew garden, from whence 

 we procured a fpecimcn the fame year. Mr. Aiton makes 

 it biennial ; Jacquin and Purfh perennial. The llem, like 

 xhi: footjldlks, is very hairy. Whole herb of a light green, two 

 f?et or more in height, branched, many-flowered. Leaflets 

 one and a half or two inches long, (trongly veined, with 

 foreading fegments. F/o-wer-fla/istcrminal, longifti, furrowed, 

 rough with clofe-prelicd hairs. Fiowers fmall, their little, 

 round, yeWow pet a/s not folong as the ca/yx, which is fmooth 

 and bent downward. See/is in a cylindrical head, numerous, 

 ovate, gibbous, comprefled, Imooth, very minutely dotted, 

 each tipped with a fhort, fliarp, creft, or (lightly inflexcd, 

 beak. Receptacle hairy. Mr. Purfli's defcription does not, 

 in every circumftance, anfwer to the Linn-.ean plant ; for 

 the floii'ers are not near fo big as R. acris, nor are their 

 Jlalks round. 



47. R. ternattts. Ternate-leaved Japanefe Crowfoot. 



Tluinb. Jap. 241. Wilid. n. 39 " Calyx rcflexed. Leaves 



all ternate ; leaflets three-cleft. Stem many-flowered." — 

 Native of the Japanefe ifland of Nipon, flowering in May. 

 Nothing more is known of this fpecies, concerning whofc 

 peculiar charafters, or affinities, we can form no precife 

 opinion. 



48. R. biternattts. Twice-tcrnate Magellanic Crowfoot. — 

 I^eaves imooth, twice ternate, cut ; fegments ovate, acute. 

 Stem creeping. Stalks fingle-flowcred, the length of the 

 leaves. Petals obovate, the length of the fmooth calyx. — 

 Gathered by Commerfon, in the ftraits of Magellan. No 

 author appears to have taken up this fpecies, of which 

 a fpecimen, from Commerfon's herbarium, was given by 

 Thouin to the younger Linnxus. The \v)\o\c plant is fmooth. 

 The leaves bear a confiderable rL-femblance to 'thofe of 

 R. Segiiieri, but are rather fmaller, and diftinftly twice ter- 

 nate. The habit of the plant more accords with lahpomcus 

 and hyperboreus, however unlike at iiril fight. The Jleni is 

 thread-fliaped and creeping, fending forth, from every joint, 

 a few fibrous radicles, a pair of upright, ilalked leaves, two 

 or three inches in height, and one Jlonver, wTiofe fimple, 

 naked j/?.j/i' is about as tall as the leaves. 'Y\i\% Jio'wer appears 

 to be extremely like that of lapponicus, though fcarcely 

 more than half fo large. The dried petals have the fame 

 opaque whitenefs as is obfervable in that fpecies, and others, 

 on their upper furface, and are probably yellow when frelh. 



49. R. peduncular'ts. Long-llalked Magellanic Crowfoot. 

 — Leaves ternate, deeply cut, fomewhat hairy. Stems 

 hairy, taller than the leaves, two-flowered. Calyx reflexed, 

 nearly imooth. Seeds globofe, fmooth, with recurved, 

 hooked beaks. — Gathered by Commerfon in the ftraits of 

 Magellan, with the preceding. This has a general likenefs 

 to feveral common European kinds, which we (ball next 

 defcribe, but is eifentially dillindl. The radical leaves are 

 feveral, on hairy ftalks, four inches long, their circumfcrip- 

 tion roundini, meafuring an inch, or inch and half, acrofs ; 

 the leaflets almoft always quite diiUnft, with fhort partial 

 ftalks, their form wedge-like, or fan-fhaped, more or lefs 

 deeply cut, feldom regularly three-cleft. Stems feveral, 

 ereft, ftriated, rough, with fpreading hairs ; fimple and 

 naked to the height of four or fix inches, then dividing into 

 two upright, hairy, (\m-p\e Jlewer-flalis, greatly elongated, 

 (from one to feven or eight inches), after flowering, and 

 accompanied at their bafe by a folitai-y, ftalked, deeply 

 divided, palmate or fingered, leaf, an inch long. The 

 ftcwers 'are much like thofe of bulbofus, or acris. Calyx- 

 icaves ovate, concave, reflexed, bearing a few external hairs. 



Vol. XXIX. 



Petals yellow, wedge-fhapcd, ftriated, nearly twice as long 

 as the calyx, /"rw// globofe. feA globofe, tumid, keeled, 

 even and fmooth ; their beaks rather fpreading, hooked at 

 the tip. 



JO. R. bulbofus. Bulbous Crowfoot, or Butter-cups. 

 Linn. Sp. PI. 778. Willd. n. 40. Ait. n. 25. Fl. Brit. 

 n. 7. Engl. Bot.t. 515. Purfli n. 12. Curt. Lond. fafc. 1. 



t. 38. Mart. Ruft. t. 28. Ger. Em. 953. Lob. Ic. 666 



Leaves hairy, ternate, three-cleft, cut. Stem many-flowered. 

 Calyx reflexed. Seeds comprcffed, fmooth. Root bulbous. 

 — Very common in Europe, as well as North America, in 

 meadows and paftures, flowering throughout the fummer. 

 The root is a round, folid, perennial bulb, about an inch in 

 diameter, increafing by offsets from the top, and fending 

 out from its bafe many long (lout fibres. Stems feveral, 

 ereft, a foot high, branched, leafy, round, hairy, many- 

 flowered, deftitute of trailing flioots or runners. Leaves 

 ftalked, varioufly cut, more or lefs hairy. Flonvers ter- 

 minal, folitary, on angular furrowed ftalks, rough with ereft, 

 briftly hairs. Calyx hairy, bent back to the llalk. Petals 

 nearly equal in fize to R. Lingua, of a deep fliining yellow. 

 Nectary covered by a notched fcale. Fruit globole. Seeds 

 orbicular, greatly compreffed, bordered, fmooth, and even, 

 tipped with a fhort blunt beak. — This is one of the moft 

 acrid, and even cauftic, fpecies. Villars fays the root may be 

 ufed as a blifter, inftead of cantharidcs, but not fo fafely. 

 It is moft aftive in the fpring, and muft not then be left on 

 the fliin more than four or fix hours, for fear of leaving a 

 dangerous fpreading fore. 



51. R. hirfutus. Pale Hairy Crowfoot. Curt. Lond. 

 fafc. 2. t. 40. Fl. Brit. n. 8. Engl. Bot. t. 1504. Ait. 

 n. 26. (R. Philonotis ; Ehrh. Beitr. fafc. 2. 145. Herb. 

 116. Willd. n. 41. Lamarck Dift. n. 48. Purfli n. 13. 

 R. fardous ; Crantz Auftr. fafc. 2. 84. Lamarck Diet. 

 n. 47. R. pallidior ; Villars Dauph. v. 2. 751. R. bul- 

 bofus /S ; Hudf. Angl. 241. R. reftus foliis pallidio- 

 ribus, hirfutis ; Bauh. Hift. v. 3. p. 2. 417. R. fecundus : 

 Matth. Valgr. v. i. J59. R. paluftris, apii folio lanugi- 

 nofus; Bauh. Pin. 180. Morif. (eft. 4. t. 29. f. 27 and 28.) 

 — /5. R. parvulus ; Linn. Mant. 79. Fl. Brit. n. 11. 

 Willd. n. 50. Ait. n. 31. Lamarck Dift. n. 73. R. 

 agrarius ; jb. n. 46 ? R. minimus faxatilis hirfutus ; Bauh. 

 Prodr. 96. R. minimus apulus ; Column. Ecphr. 314. 

 t.316. f. I. — Leaves ternate, notched. Stem ereft, branched. 

 Calyx reflexed. Seeds orbicular, comprefled with a fhort 

 afcending beak, bordered ; tuberculated at the fides Na- 

 tive of nioift ground, in various parts of Europe, from 

 Britain to Greece, flowering from June to Oftober. The 

 root is fibrous and annual. Stem ereft, generally much 

 branched, leafy, fpreading, many-flowered, ftriated, clothed 

 with foft, widely fpreading hairs ; in variety ,S fmaller, 

 fmoothei: and weaker, fometimes, in a very ftarved ftate, 

 bearing but one or two flowers. Leaves on longifh, more 

 or lefs hairy, footflalks, pale green, hairy, ternate, varying 

 much in fize ; their leaflet? wedge-fhaped, fometimes deeply 

 threc-lobed, fometimes ©nly bluntly notched ; upper ones 

 narrower and more fimple, nearly feflile. Stipulas membra- 

 nous, hairy, fomewhat dilated, attached to the bafe of the 

 footftalks. Floivers on long, terminal, furrowed, hairy 

 ftalks, folitary, fmaller than iu bulbofus. Calyx h'airy, re- 

 flexed. Petals roundifh ; of a bright fliining yellow above ; 

 paler and opaque beneath. Ne3ary clofed by an abrupt 

 fcale. Fruk globofe. Seeds lenticular, compreffed, brown, 

 with a triple-ribbed greenifh border ; their beaks fhort, 

 afcending, very obfcurely hooked ; their fides ftudded 

 with minute (harp tubercles, efpecially towards the margin, 

 where they are often circularly arranged, as Poiret (or 

 3 H Lamarck) 



