RANUNCULUS 
137 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 135; Curtis FI. Lond. ii, 108; Martyn FI. Rust. t. 56; Reichenbach Icon. 
iii, t. 21, fig. 46 1 4. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 142. (a) Whole plant. 
(b) Achene. Huntingdonshire (H. C.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 3701 ; Bourgeau (Pyr. 
Espagn.), 365; Fries, viii, 27; Schultz, 101; Todaro; 
Wirtgen vi, 218. 
Annual. Shoot 1 — 4 dm. high, erect. 
Ground-leaves with petioles about as long as 
the laminae ; laminae with 3 — 5 lobes ; lobes 
cuneiform, with 3 — 5 teeth at the apex. Stem- 
leaves with shorter petioles and more linear seg- 
ments and fewer apical teeth. P edicels terete. 
Receptacle hairy, flattened. Flowers about 
1 cm. in diameter; May to August. Sepals 
spreading, rather hairy. Petals pale yellow. 
Achenes 4 — 8 on each receptacle, with prominent 
and acute prickles, compressed, about 1 cm. 
long; beak rather long, narrow, curved. 
A weed of cornfields in lowland localities ; 
throughout England ; rare in Wales, Scotland 
(northwards to Perthshire), and hilly districts 
generally; not recorded for Ireland. 
Europe (excl. Norway); western Asia; 
North America (not indigenous). 
Section IV. HECATONIA 
Hecatonia Loureiro Ft. cochinch. 302 (1790) 
as a genus ; Grenier et Godron FI. France i, 38 (1848) 
as a section; Rouy et Foucaud Ft. France i, 112 
(1893) as a section. 
For characters, see page 125. Only 
species : — R. sceleratus. 
14. RANUNCULUS SCELERATUS. Celery-leaved Crowfoot. Plate 143 
R. palustris Gerard Herball 814 ( 1 597) ; Ra y Syn. ed. 3, 249 (1724). 
Ranunculus sceleratus L. Sp. PI. 551 (1753)!; Smith FI. Brit. 590 (1800)!; Syme Eng. Bot. i, 31 
(1863); Rouy Ft. France i, 112 (1893); Batrachium sceleratum Lange Danske FI. ed. 3, 585 (1886 1888). 
leones Smith Eng. Bot. t. 681; Curtis Ft. Lond. i, t. 112; FI. Dan. t. 571; Reichenbach Icon, iii, t. 11, 
fig- 459 8 - 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 14.3. {a, b) Lower leaves. ( c ) Upper part of plant. ( d ) Receptacle, (e) Recep- 
tacle (enlarged). (/) Achenes (two enlarged). Cambridgeshire (C. E. M.). 
Exsiccata: — Billot, 2405, 2405 bis ; Ehrhart, 386; Todaro, 1378; Herb. FI. Ingnc. i, 21. 
Annual. Shoot up to 8 dm. high, shining, glabrous or pubescent, erect. Stem grooved, hollow. 
Basal leaf-sheaths conspicuous. Lower leaves with petioles 2 — 3 times as long as the laminae ; 
laminae deeply divided into 3 main lobes, main lobes 3-fid, divisions toothed, teeth obtuse. Stem- 
leaves with long petioles. Receptacle very elongate, about 10 mm. long and 3 broad, somewhat hairy. 
Pedicel <g rooved. Flowers protogynous, about 7 mm. in diameter; May to September. Sepals reflexed. 
Petals yellow, caducous, not contiguous. Stamens caducous, appressed to the ovaries, about half as long 
as the petals. Ovary ripening and elongating rapidly, and soon becoming the most conspicuous part of 
the flower. Achenes very numerous, small (about 2 mm. long), glabrous, rimmed, scarcely beaked. 
There are several habitat states or formae of this species: one is entirely submerged under water; and another has 
floating leaves. 
In or near stagnant water ; from the Channel Isles, Cornwall, and Kent, northwards to Caithness- 
shire ; widespread in Ireland; usually a lowland plant. 
Europe, ascending to 1475 m. in the Tyrol; Asia; north-western Africa; North America. 
M. III. 
