Stems rather stout, 6—12 inches high, slightly hairy. Root leaves on short petioles, rounded, crenate-toothed or 3-lobed, stem leaves sessile and cut into 3—6 oblong-lanceolate segments. Flowers ¼ of an inch or more broad, usually several together on short slender peduncles; petals obovate-oblong, light yellow; achenes small, hairy. In open ground sparingly throughout the Rockies at the lower elevations; flowering in June. [Sidenote: =Ranunculus Suksdorfii= A. Gray.] Stem 3—6 inches high, smooth, slender, 1—3-flowered. Leaves ½ an inch or more long, sub-reniform or broadly fan-shaped with wedge-shaped base, deeply 3—5-cleft or parted, the radical into cuneate 3—5-cleft or incised divisions, those of the stem linear. Flowers bright yellow; petals round-obovate, ⅓—½ an inch long. In moist ground on slopes, throughout the Rockies; flowering in June. [Sidenote: =Ranunculus eximius= Greene. _Low Buttercup._] Stems hairy, 6—10 inches high, branching. Leaves few, basal, rounded in outline, ternately lobed, sometimes deeply so, on slender petioles; stem leaves sessile or nearly so, cut into narrowly linear or linear-lanceolate lobes. Flowers ¾ of an inch or more broad, petals spreading, bright yellow and shining on the upper surface; sepals not reflexed. A showy low buttercup in the dry open valleys in the Rockies; flowering in June. [Illustration: Aquilegia brevistyla Hook. (¾ Nat.) Small Blue Columbine.] [Sidenote: =Ranunculus montanensis= Rydb. _Meadow Buttercup._] Stem stout, 1—2 feet high, branching with long rough hairs. Basal leaves long, hairy all over, 3-parted, the divisions again divided or cut into linear or lanceolate segments; petioles 3 or 4 inches long; stem-leaves similar but short petioled. Flowers few, large; sepals broadly ovate with silky hairs; petals broadly ovate, nearly half an inch long, bright yellow; head of achenes, globose; style long, slender, and much curved. Frequent in the Rockies at the lower altitudes in more or less shaded grassy situations; flowering in June and July. [Sidenote: =Halerpestes Cymbalaria= (Pursh.) Green. _Creeping Crowfoot._] Stems creeping and rooting at the joints, 1—7-flowered. Leaves broadly ovate, coarsely crenate, clustered at the base and joints of the long slender runners. Flowers ¼ of an inch across; petals light yellow, longer than the sepals; fruit in oblong heads. A common species throughout the Rockies in damp ground, frequently forming mats several feet across; flowering continuously throughout the summer. [Sidenote: =Caltha leptosepala= Hook. _White Marsh Marigold._] Stems erect, 2—12 inches high, 1—2-flowered. Leaves roundish or oblong-cordate, longer than broad, irregularly crenate-toothed; sepals 6—8, lanceolate, ¾ of an inch long, white, strongly suffused with blue on the outside; stamens numerous; pistils 5—15.