RANUNCULACEAE 
103 
enlarged), (h) Nearly ripe fruits (one enlarged), (i) Staminate flower (enlarged), (j) Sepals (enlarged). R. F. T. 
( W orcestershire). 
Shoot of a rather paler green than in var. oxyacanthum. Leaves less rigid and leaflets of the 
lower leaves more divided than in var. oxyacanthum. Stamens often fewer than in var. oxyacanthum. 
Achenes with a short terminal spine and with the lateral spines absent or reduced to very small 
protuberances. 
This var. apiculatum is frequently mistaken for C. submersum. Without doubt, the var. apiculatum is a connecting link 
between C. submersum and C. demersum var. oxyacanthum. 
As shown in the above citations, Hooker and Arnott mentioned this var. apiculatum in 1850 : they refer to “Mr Babington’s 
notice of it”; but we have been unable to trace apy account of the variety by Babington. Hooker and Arnott’s record of 
the plant is unlocalised. Mr A. Fryer (in Journ. Bot. xxv, 282 (1887)) definitely records the plant for Huntingdonshire; 
and later (in Bot. Exch. Club Brit. Is. Rep. for 1887, i, 190 (1888)) he also records plants which are, in our opinion, hybrids 
between it and var. oxyacanthum. We think it possible that some of the varieties mentioned by Rouy (loc. cit.) are referable 
to hybrids of these two varieties. Mr R. F. Towndrow sent us fresh plants of var. apiculatum from Worcestershire, and 
Mr and Mrs Corstorphine from Forfarshire. We have also seen dried specimens from Kent and the East Riding of York- 
shire. We believe the plant will prove to be widespread. 
Kent, Huntingdonshire, Worcestershire, East Riding of Yorkshire, Forfarshire, and doubtless elsewhere. 
Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, central Europe ; Africa ; America. 
( b ) C. demersum var. oxyacanthum von Martius Ft. Brasil, iii, pt. 3, 747(1894); C. tricorne Dumortier FI. 
Belg. 165 (1827) nomen, inch C. tricuspidatum ; C. oxyacanthum Chamisso in Linnaea iv, 504, t. 5, fig. 6 b (1829); 
C. vidgare var. oxyacanthum Schleiden in Linnaea xi, 541, t. 11, fig. 15 (1837); C. demersum var. a Hooker and 
Arnott Brit. FI. ed. 6, 371 (1850); C. aquaticum subsp. demersum Syme Eng. Bot. viii, 123 (1868). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 947, as C. demersum ; FI. Dan. t. 2000, as C. demersum ; Baxter Phaen. Bot. 
t. 260, as C. demersum. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate pp. (a) Barren shoot. (b) Fertile shoot. ( c ) Leaf. ( d ) Leaf (enlarged). 
(<?) Ripening fruits (one enlarged). Cambridgeshire (A. S. S.). (/) Ripening fruits (one enlarged), (g) Fruits 
(one enlarged). Worcestershire (R. F. T.). 
Leaves crowded (especially at the apex of the branches), rough to the feel, rigid, dark green. 
Fruit more or less tuberculate or muricate, with a terminal spine and two lateral spines, the latter 
directed downwards and inserted near the base of the achene. 
Cambridgeshire, Worcestershire, and doubtless elsewhere. 
Europe ; Asia ; Africa ; America. 
[(c) C. demersum var. platyacanthum Wimmer FI. Schles. ed. 3, 169 (1857); C. platyacanthum Chamisso 
in Linnaea iv, 504, t. 5, fig. 6 a (1829); Godron in Grenier et Godron FI. France i, 593 (1848); Ascherson und 
Graebner FI. Nordostd. Flachl. 320 (1898); C. vulgare var. platyacanthum Schleiden in Linnaea xi, 540, t. n, 
fig. 14 (1837); C. demersum var. /3 Hooker and Arnott Brit. FI. ed. 6, 371 (1850); C. demersum subsp, platy- 
acanthum Rouy FI. France xii, 281 (1910). 
Mature fruit winged, 3-spined, spines longer than in var. oxyacanthum , the lateral spines issuing 
from a higher level than in var. oxyacanthum , with irregular teeth between the spines. 
As in the case of var. apiculatum , this var. platyacanthum is mentioned in Hooker and Arnott’s British Flora (loc. cit.), 
but not localised. The record appears to have been copied in several continental floras, and to have been dropped by 
British botanists. We have seen no British examples. 
Germany (apparently common in some parts), France (apparently rare), central Europe, southern Russia.] 
Local, in slowly moving waters with a high or comparatively high mineral content ; from the 
Channel Isles, Cornwall, and Kent, northwards to Perthshire and Forfarshire ; local in Ireland ; rare 
in Wales, as in hilly districts generally. 
Faeroes, Iceland, Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe, 
Russia, southern Europe ; Africa ; Asia ; America. 
Family 3. RANUNCULACEAE 
Ranunculaceae Jussieu Gen. Plant. 231 (1789) emend.; DC. Syst. Nat. i, 125 et 127 (1818) emend., excl. 
Ranunculaceae spuriae ; Prantl in Pflanzenfam. iii, pt. 2, 43 (1891) emend. 
Usually herbaceous perennials with root-tubers or rhizomes, sometimes annual, rarely lianes ; 
usually acrid or poisonous. Leaves often all radical ; stem-leaves usually alternate, rarely opposite ; 
petioles usually present, often long, usually more or less dilated or sheathing (yz^z-stipulate) at the 
base ; laminae simple or compound. Inflorescence usually cymose, rarely solitary. Bracts usually leaf- 
