20 BANUNCULACE^. [Ranunculus. 



An erect glabrous' annual. Steml-Z ft., often stout fleshy and branched, 

 rarely puberulous above. Leaves 3-lobed or -partite ; lower petioled, 

 3-partite, with obovate cuneate segments ; upper trifid, with linear seg- 

 ments ; stipules membranous. Flovjers rather small, yellow. Calyx re- 

 flexed, often woolly outside. Petals oblong. Achenes numerous, in 

 oblong heads, turgid not margined, obliquely obovate, obtuse or very 

 shortly macronate. Receptacle oblong, pilose. 



Abundant throughout the area in wet ground. Distrib. : Punjab and 

 Bengal plains, and warm valleys of the Himalaya up to 5,000 ft., 

 extending to Europe and N. Asia. The whole plant is extremely acrid, 

 and is often used by the natives as a vesicae t. 



3. R. pensylvanicus, Linn. f. Suppl. 272 ; F. B. I. i. 19. E. fibrosus, 



Wall. ; Hk. f. ^ T. Fl. Ind. 37. E. chinensis, Bunge ; Hk. f. Sf T. 



I. c. 38. E. riparius, Edgeio. in Trans. Linn. Soc. XX, 28. 



An erect hairy annual. Stem 2-3 ft., prostrate at the base and often 

 rooting at the nodes, patently hairy. Leaves 3-partite, segments deeply 

 divided ; lower on long petioles ; leaflets long-stalked and deeply cut 

 into linear segments ; upper sessile or nearly so. Flowers about 1 in. in 

 diam., yellow. 'SepaZsreflexed. Receptacle ]pi\ose. Very variable in the 

 shape of the head of achenes, and in the prominence and position of the 

 intra-marginal rib. 



In the Kheri district of N". Oudh, in wet ground ; banks of the Ganges 

 near Bhojpur (Edgeworth). Uistrib. : Ludhiana, on the banks of the 

 Sutlej (Edgeworth) ; Nepal Terai ; Khasia Hills, up to 6,000 ft,, extend- 

 ing to N. China, Amur-land, and N. America. 



II.— DILLENIACEJE. 



Teees, shrubs or herbs, sometimes climbing. Leaves alterDate, 

 simple, entire or toothed, usually with exstipulate sheathing petioles. 

 Flowers yellow or white, often showy. Segals 5, imbricate, per- 

 sistent. Petals usually 5, deciduous. Stamens many, in several 

 series. Carpel 1 or more, free or cohering in the axis ; styles dis- 

 tinct. Fruit of follicles, or indehiscent and sub-baccate. Seeds 

 arillate (except in Dillenia) ; albumen fleshy. Chiefly tropical, also 

 largely represented in Australia. 



DILLENIA, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind. i. 36. 



Trees. Leaiws broad, with conspicuous parallel lateral nerves. 

 Floivers large, solitary or fascicled, yellow or white. Sepals 5, j 

 spreading. Petals 5, broad. Stamens ne&vly hee -, anthers linear, 

 burscing by small slits or pores; inner introrse, outer extrorse. 

 Carpels 5-20, cohering in the axis ; ovules indefinite. Fruit globose. 



