RANUNCULUS. 



Ill the botanic garden at Paris. Root perennial. Stems one 

 or two feet high, branched, leafy, very fmooth, tender, 

 ftriated. Leaves alternate, (talked, widely fpreaditig, fmooth, 

 fliining as if varnifhtd on their upper furfacc, <livided into 

 llirec or five diftant dilated lobes, the two lowermolt con- 

 trafted at their bafc, unequally cut, obtufe. Fooljlei/is long, 

 fomewhat downy, dilated at tiieir bafe into a broad mein- 

 brannus expanfion. Floivers numerous, fituated at the ends, 

 as well as in the forks, of the branches, on long, fimple, 

 cylindrical, rather downy Jlalhs. Calyx-leaves coloured, 

 fmooth, concave, reflexed after the (lower expands. Petals 

 rather large, roundidi, of a fine fhining yellow. This plant 

 has fome agreement with R. rcpcns, from vvhicli it difiers in 

 having entirely upright /?cwj and a reflexed cei]yx, as well as 

 fhorter more dilated lobes to the leaves. Such is Poiret's 

 account. This fnrely cannot be our ^,(/i7/?m, n. 52, which 

 has hairy leaves, and no refei.iblancc or affinity to repens ; 

 neither could the intelligent author have overlooked Tourne- 

 fort's fynonym for that plant. 



58. R. pnlyanthemos. Many-flowered Crowfoot. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 779. Fl. Suec. ed. 2. 196. Willd. n. 44. Ait. 

 n. 28. Lamarck n. 41. Lob. Ic. 666. (R. fylveflris 

 fecundus ; Dod. Pempt. 427. R. furreftis cauliculis ; Ger. 

 Em. 951, as to the figure. R. fylveflris; Tabcrn. Kreu- 

 terb. 107. Ic. 42. R. napellifolius ; Crantz fafc. 3. 90. 

 t. 4. f. 1, I?) — Leaves in five deep, repeatedly fubdivided 

 lobes ; fegments all linear. Stem ereA, many-flowered. 

 Flower-italks furrowed. Calyx fpreading. Seeds ovate, 

 bordered, compreffed, fmooth. — Native of moift, elevated, 

 rich meadows, in Upland, and elfewhcre in Svv'eden, but 

 rarely. Linmzus. In Germany, and perhaps in Switzerland, 

 on the authority of various writers. R»ot perennial. Stem 

 ercft, two or three feet high, branched, many-flowered ; 

 leafy, clothed with upright, or fomewhat fpreading, hairs. 

 Radical and lower Jlem-lcaves three inches wide, on long very 



'hairy flalks, divided to the very bafe into three lobes, the 

 lateral lobes again divided almoft to the bafe, fo that the 

 leaf may truly be called, in the firft inftance, five-lobed ; 

 each lobe is deeply, more or lefs repeatedly, cut, into three- 

 cleft or alteraate, liiitar, bluntifh, entire, fingle-ribbed, 

 fpreading fegments, loofely hairy on both fides, paler be- 

 neath : the uppermoft leaves are nearly fefTile, in about 

 three deep, linear, entire divifions. Flower-Jlalh long, ter- 

 minal, angular or furrowed, rough with upright hairs. 

 Floiuers large, yellow, drooping, not doling, in wet wea- 

 ther, according to LinuKus. Calyx fpreading, pale, ex- 

 ternally hairy. Fruit globofe. Seeds ovate, fhort, com- 

 preffed, fmooth at the fides, bordered and roughidi at the 

 edges, tipped with a broad, fhort, recurved beak. We 

 have defcribed this from the authentic Linnxan fpccimen, 

 which feems diftinft from the following, and anfwers ex- 

 tremely well to the figure of Tabernzmontanus more efpe- 

 cially, nor does it ill accord with that of Dodonaeus, re- 

 printed in Gerarde's herbal. The laft-named author how- 

 ever certainly applies that figure to the common Englifh R. 

 acris, which he fays he found double. Hence fome doubt 

 may arife whether the true polyanthemos was ever cultivated 

 in England, as it feems to depend on Gerarde's authority 

 only for a place in Hort. Kew. We have never feen it 

 alive. Poflibly it may be found in a double ftate in fome 

 old garden. The above defcription of the leaves, and the 

 greater fize of the whole plant, will diflinguifh it from 

 acris. The calyx is hairy in both, notwithftanding Willde- 

 now's remark to the contrary. 



59. R. acris. Upright Meadow Crowfoot. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 779. Willd. n. 45. Ait. n. 29. Purfh n. 15. Fl. Brit, 

 n. 10. Engl. Bot. t. 652. Curt. Lend. fafc. I. t. 39. 



Mart. Rud.t. 30. Woodv. Suppl. t. 246. Bulliard. t. 109. 

 Curt. Mag. t. 215. (R. hortenfis fecundus; Dud. Pcnipt. 

 426. R. prattnfis, furrcftis cauliculis ; Lob. Ic. 665. R. 

 luteus ; Trag. Hill. 94.) — Leaves in three deep, vved^e- 

 fhaped, many-cleft, jagged lobes ; the lateral ones deeply 

 divided. Stem ered, maiiy-flowLTed. Flower-flalks round. 

 Calyx fpreading. Seeds ovale, bordered, comprerted, fmooth. 

 — Native of meadows and paltuivs in all the more ncrtliL-rn 

 countries of Europe, very common in England, flowering 

 in June and July. The double-flowered variety is frequent 

 in gardens. I'he root is perennial, tuberous, with long 

 fimple fibres. Stem cred, two feet high, round, llriated, 

 rough with fpreading hairs below, and with clofe-preffed 

 ones above, branched, flightly leafy. Leaves hairy, far 

 Icfu divided than in the lafl, and with broader, wedge-fhaped, 

 by no means linear, fegments : the upper ones linear, either 

 deeply three-cleft, or fimple. Floiuer-Jlalhs round, not fur- 

 rowed. Calyx green, fpreading, hairy. Petals bright fliin- 

 ing yellow. Fruit globofe. Seeds much like the lafl. 



A dwarf alpine variety was brought by Mr. Dawfon 

 Turner from wet rocks, near the fummit of Snowdon, 

 vvhofe _/?£■?« is but three or four inches high, and bears but 

 one or Xwojloivers. This wiien cultivated in a garden gra- 

 dually afi'umes tfie fize and liabit of the common kind. 



60. R. Breyninus. Woolly-fruited Alpine Crowfoot. 

 Crantz Auttr. fafc. 2. 91. t. 4. f. 2. ( R. Breyiiifius, by 

 miflake ; Lamarck Did. n. 59. R. n. 1 1 70 ; Hall. Hift. 

 v. 2. 72.) — Leaves deeply three-lobed, cut and toothed, 

 very hairy beneath. Stems fpreading, fevi'-flowered. Calyx 

 fpreading. Seeds fmooth. Receptacle woolly. Native of 

 the Auftrian and Swifs Alps. Haller fays it 13 the fmalleft 

 of all the fpecies. 'YXv^Jlems are feveral, two or three inches 

 high, oblique, fimple or fomewhat branched, hairy, bear- 

 ing one or two Jlo-wers, which are of a varnifhed yellow. 

 Radical leaves numerous, lefs deeply divided than in acris, 

 very hairy beneath. Fruit globular. Seeds fmooth, hooked. 

 Receptacle woolly, which Crantz fays he had not obferved 

 in other fpecies, and by which we prefiime this is mofl effen- 

 tially diftinguifhed, particularly from the above alpine va- 

 riety of acris. We have not met with a fpecimen, nor was 

 Mr. Davall acquainted with the plant of Haller. 



61. K. lappaceus. Bur Crowfoot. — Leaves tcrnate ; leaf- 

 lets flalked, three-lobed, Iharply cut, hairy. Stem ereft, 

 many-flowered. Calyx fpreading. Seeds ovate, keeled, re- 

 ticulated, with elongated, revolute-pointed beiks Native 



of Port Jackfon, New South Wales ; communicated by 

 Dr. White. This has much of the habit of R. acris, but 

 is very dillincl. Thejiems are a foot, or more, in height, 

 branched, roundifii, rough with clofe-prelTed hairs. Radical 

 leaves numerous, on long hairy flalks, very hairy, about the 

 fize of acris or repens, but remarkable for the partial llalks, 

 fometimes an inch or two long, that fupport the leaflets, 

 efpecially the terminal one ; the leajlets are broad, wedge- 

 fliaped, more or lefs deeply three-lobed, coarfely and fharply 

 cut. The lower Jlem-leaves are narrower and lefs cut ; the 

 upper entire and lanceolate ; the uppermoft of all fimple 

 and linear. Flowers larger than in acris, white in the dried 

 fpecimen, but perhaps yellow when frefh, finely \-eined, on 

 long, hairy, angular, terminal flalks. Calyx fpreading, 

 clothed with long hairs. Nedary covered with a wedge- 

 fliaped fcale. Fruit globofe. Seeds ovate, turgid, keeled, 

 reticulated with veins, fmooth, each tipped with a prominent 

 angular beak, nearly its own length, whofe point is flrongly 

 recurved, and even revolute. 



62. R. cappadocicus. Cappadocian Crowfoot. Willd. 

 n. 46. Lamarck Didl. n. 39. ;.R. orientalis dulcis, doro- 

 nici radice ; Tourn. Cor. 20. ) — " Calyx fpreading. Flower- 



3 H 2 ftalk 



