10 THE KANUNCULUS FAMILY. 



Flowers yellow. Carpels smooth or tuberculate. Plant 

 terrestrial or not floating. 

 Leaves all undivided. 

 Petals 5, or fewer. 



Carpels with a stout beak. Stem erect, 2 feet 



or more. Flowers large 3. Great R. 



Carpels with a short point. Stems seldom 



above a foot, often decumbent. Flowers 



little more than half an inch in diameter 



or smaller. 



Petals much, longer than the calyx. Leaves 



mostly narrow 4. Spear R. 



Petals very small. Leaves mostly ovate or 



broad lanceolate ........ 5. Snake-tongue R. 



Petals more than 5, usually 8 or 9 6. Figivort R. 



Leaves divided or deeply cut. 



Carpels smooth or slightly tuberculate near the 

 edge. Rootstock (in all but 7 and 12) peren- 

 nial. 

 Leaves glabrous or very slightly downy. 



Petals conspicuous, bright yellow. Carpels 



downy, in a globular head .*.... 8. Wood R. 

 Petals very small. Carpels small, numerous, 



in an ovate or oblong head 7. Celery-leaved R. 



Leaves hairy. 



Calyx spreading but not reflexed. 



Stems erect without runners. Lower leaves 



palmately divided 9. Meadow R. 



Runners creeping and rooting. Central 

 division of the lower leaves projecting 



beyond the others 10. Creeping R. 



Calyx closely reflexed on the peduncle. 

 Rootstock or thickened base of the stem 



perennial. Carpels perfectly smooth 11. Bulbous R. 

 Annual. Carpels marked with a few tu- 

 bercles within the margin .... 12. Hairy R. 

 Carpels covered with tubercles or prickles. An- 

 nuals. 

 Leaves glabrous, segments narrow. Carpels very 



prickly. Plant erect 14. Corn R. 



Leaves hairy, segments broad. Carpels tuber- 

 culate. Stems weak 13. Small-Jlowered R. 



The showy double Ranunculus of our gardens belongs to a Levant 

 species {JR. asiaticus). Double-flowered varieties of several others, 

 especially of our common yellow Buttercups, and of the white-flowered 

 Continental JR. aconitifolius, are known to our gardeners under the 

 name of Bachelor s buttons. 



