(* * 204 .) 
MYOSU'RUS* 
Linnean Class and Order. Pe.nta'ndria f, Polygy'nia. 
Natural Order. Ranuncula'ce^J, Juss. Gen. PI. p. 231. — 
Sm. Gram, of Bot. 1 36. — Lindl. Svn. p. 7. ; Inttod. to Nat. Syst. of 
Bot. p. 6. — Rich, by Macgilliv. p. 465. — Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 495. — 
Don’s Gen. Syst. of Gard. and Bot. v. i. p. 2. — Rosales ; sect. 
Ranunculinte ; subsect. Ranunculiana: ; type, Ranuncula- 
CR.fi ; subtype, Ranunculete ; Burn. Outl* of Bot. pp. 614, 828, 
832, 837, & 839. — Multisiliqile, Linn. 
Gen. Char. Calyx (see fig. 1, a. & fig. 2.) of 5, spear-shaped, 
concave, coloured, spreading, deciduous sepals, spurred at the base 
below their point of insertion (fig. 2). Corolla of 5 very small 
petals (fig. 1, 6. & fig. 3.), shorter than the calyx, with a filiform 
tubular claw, bearing honey at the base. Filaments (fig. 4.) 5, or 
more, strap-shaped, as long as the calyx. Anthers terminal, up- 
right, of 2 strap-shaped, parallel cells. Germens (fig. 1, d.) very 
numerous, egg-shaped, seated on a long, tapering, upright recep- 
tacle. Style none. Stigmas solitary, minute. Capsules (seeds of 
most authors,/ (figs. 6, 7, & 8.) indehiscent, triquetrous, 1 -seeded, 
very much crowded, on a very long, columnar, pointed receptacle. 
The calyx of 5 sepals, prolonged at the base ; the corolla of 5 
petals, with tubular, honey-bearing claws ; and the 1 -seeded, in- 
dehiscent capsules, collected upon a very long columnar receptacle ; 
will distinguish this from other genera in the same class and order. 
One species British. 
MYOSU'RUS MFNIMUS. Least Mouse-tail. 
Spec. Char. Scape nearly equal in length with the leaves, or 
longer ; appendages of the calyx somewhat leafy. 
Engl. Bot. t.435 — Curt. FI. Lond. t. 251. Curt. Brit. F.ntom. t. 437. — Linn. 
Spec PI. p.407. — Muds. FI. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 136. — Sm. FI. Brit. v. i. p.348. 
Engl. FI. v. ii. p. 125. — With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 413. — Lindl. Syn. p. 10. — Ilook. 
Brit. FI. p. 149. — Lightf. FI. Scot. v. i. p. 176. — Sibth. FI. Oxon. p. 107. — Abb. 
FI. Bejlf. p. 72. — Purt. Mid. FI. v. i. p. 167. — Relh. FI. Cant. (3rd ed.) p. 134. — 
Hook. FI. Scot. p.98. — FI. Devon, pp. 57 & 194. — Rev. G. E. Smith’s PI. of 
S. Kent, p.20. — Winch’s FI. of Northumb. and Durham, p. 21. — Don’s Gen. 
Syst. of Gard. and Bot. v. i. p. 25. — W alk. FI. of Oxf. p. 90. — Perry’s PI. Varv. 
Seleetae, p. 28. — Myosiirus Europec'a , Gray’s Nat. Arr. v. ii. p.723. — Myosu - 
ros, Ray’s Syn. p. 251. — Holosteo affinis, Cauda muris, Sibbald’s Scotia II- 
lustrata, p. 30.— Cauda muris, Johnson’s Gerarde, p. 426. 
Localities. — I n corn-fields, on a sandy or gravelly soil. Not common. — 
Oxfordsh. Magdalen Water Walks, near the meadow gate. Southleigh, and 
North Aston : Dr. SiBiHonr. In a field on the left hand side of the road 
going from Bayswater to Stanton St.John: W. B. — Berkshire. In gravelly 
soils, common: Dr. Noeheden. Cookham : W. Hurst, in New Bot. Guide. 
Cornfields near Windsor: Rev. H. Davies. — Beds ; Biddenham, Fenlake, and 
Caldwell. — Bucks; Near Slough: Mr. Gotobed. — Cambridgesh. Stourbridge 
Fair Green ; Oakington, in a lane leading from the village to the Huntingdon 
Fig. 1. A Flower, a . one of the 5 sepals; b. one of the petals; c. a stamen ; 
rf. the germens and receptacle.— F’ig. 2. A Sepal. — Fig. 3. A Petal. — Fig. 4. A 
Stamen. — Fig. 5. The elongated Receptacle, bearing the ripe Capsules. — Fig. 6. 
A separate Capsule. — Figs. 7 & 8. Ditto. — All, except figs. 5 & 6, more or 
less magnified. 
* From mas, muos, Gr. a mouse ; and oura, Gr. a tail; from the elon- 
gated receptacle of germens or seed-vessels. Hooker. 
f See Ancftusa sempervirens, f. 48, n. t- f See Clematis ritalba, f. 129, a. 
