THE WILD SPECIES OF RANUNCULUS. 
455 
A herbaceous perennial, with an erect much 
branched stem, about a foot high. The lower 
leaves are stalked, with dilated sheathing 
petioles ; and are mostly marked in the mid- 
dle with a black or dark brown blotch. The 
flowers are numerous, of a bright golden yel- 
low, with roundish heart-shaped petals : the 
carpels are collected into a round head. 
Flowers from June to August. Found very 
commonly in pastures and waste places. A 
cultivated variety has double flowers. 
Ranunculus acris, Linnaeus (upright mea- 
dow Crowfoot). — Root fibrous ; stem erect, 
with close hairs ; root leaves palmately tri- 
parted, with trifid segments, upper ones tri- 
parted with linear segments ; 'peduncles round; 
calyx pubescent, spreading; carpels oval, 
glabrous, with a short recurved beak ; recep- 
tacle glabrous. A herbaceous perennial, with 
an erect stem, one to two feet high, the lower 
leaves having dilated channelled footstalks. 
The flowers are of a bright golden yellow : 
the carpels are collected into a round head. 
Flowering in June and July. Found in 
meadows and pastures, very common. This 
plant is very acrid. There are several culti- 
vated varieties ; a double-flowered one is very 
ornamental. 
Ranunculus arvensis, Linnaeus (corn 
Crowfoot). — Root fibrous ; stem erect, much 
branched ; leaves three-cleft, with narrow seg- 
ments ; flowers numerous, small ; peduncles 
round ; calyx spreading ; carpels margined, 
beaked and spinous. An annual, with an erect, 
much branched, many flowered stem, about a 
foot high. The leaves with channelled stalks, 
dilated at the base, and sheathing. The flowers 
are small, pale yellow, followed by singular 
spinous fruit. Flowers in July. Found 
frequently in corn fields. This plant is very 
acrid, and is one of the very worst species for 
cattle, but, as it usually grows among corn, 
and not in pastures, its deleterious effects are 
not so much felt as they would otherwise be. 
Rtmuncidus parvijlorus, Linnaeus (small- 
flowered Crowfoot). — Root fibrous; stems 
prostrate ; leaves roundish, heart-shapedj 
with three to five lobes, upper ones three 
lobed ; peduncles opposite the leaves ; carpels 
orbicular, armed at the sides with hooked 
prickles. An annual plant, varying from six 
to eighteen inches in height, with prostrate, 
spreading, hollow stems, and hairy leaves. 
The flowers are not very numerous, small, 
solitary, pale yellow ; the petals sometimes 
wanting ; the carpels form a round head. 
Flowers in May and June. Found in gra- 
velly fields and under hedges ; not common. 
Ranunculus hederaceus, Linnaeus (ivy- 
leaved Crowfoot). — Stems creeping; leaves 
all roundish, reniform, with three to five 
lobes, smooth ; carpels transversely rugose, 
obtuse, with a lateral ascending style ; stamens 
five to ten. An aquatic perennial plant, with 
a branching creeping stem, which throws out 
roots at all the joints. The leaves are smooth, 
somewhat fleshy, often marked with a dark 
blotch in the middle. The flowers are small, 
solitary from the axils of the leaves, white, 
with narrow petals, scarcely as long as the 
calyx. The carpels are numerous, collected 
into small round heads. Flowers from May 
till August. Found in wet places, occasionally 
inundated. It and the next, are the least 
ornamental of the aquatic kinds. 
Ranunculus Lenormandi, Schultz (Lenor- 
mand's Crowfoot). — This plant has been con- 
sidered as a variety of R. hederaceus, but 
proves to be the species here named. It 
differs from R. hederaceus chiefly in having 
its leaves all cordate, subrotund, sub-peltate, 
obovatecarpels, tipped with a terminal style, and 
much broader stipules, scarcely at all adnate. 
It has been found in several parts of England. 
Ranunculus aquatilis, Linnaeus (water 
Crowfoot.) — Stems floating ; leaves stalked, 
submersed ones divided into numerous capil- 
lary segments, spreading on all sides ; floating 
ones reniform, three to five parted ; carpels 
rugose, unequally ovate, with an obtuse ter- 
minal point. An aquatic perennial, with 
floating, obtusely angular stems, and smooth, 
somewhat fleshy, floating leaves. Flowers in 
May and June. Found frequently in lakes, 
pools, ditches, and running streams, There 
are three varieties, — that described above, 
designated heterophyllus (sometimes peltatus) ; 
contortus, with the segments of the submersed 
leaves much curled and twisted ; and panto- 
thrix, with all the leaves multifid and seta- 
ceous. This is a very pretty aquatic plant. 
Ranunculus circinatus, Sibthorp (circinate 
water Crowfoot). — Stem submersed, ascend- 
ing, obtusely angular ; leaves mostly sessile, 
all submersed, divided into numerous capillary, 
forked, rigid segments, spreading in one plane, 
with a circular outline ; carpels transversely 
rugose, laterally tipped with the long in- 
curvated style. An aquatic perennial, dis- 
tinguished by its apparently sessile leaves ; 
the flowers are white, smaller than the last. 
Flowers in May and June. Found in ditches, 
pools, and slow running streams. It is like 
the last rather an ornamental plant. Also 
called R. divaricatus. 
Ranunculus Jluitans, Lambert (floating 
water Crowfoot). — Stem floating round ; 
leaves all submersed, much forked, with elon- 
gated, setaceous, parallel segments; carpels 
transversely rugose, obovate, with a short, 
obtuse, straight lateral point. An aquatic 
perennial, differing from the two former in 
its elongated leaves, which with the stalks are 
often a foot or more in length : very rarely a 
