SCARLET ANEMONE—ADONIS. 21 full colour and glossy texture indicate a relationship to the Buttercup. I gathered it abundantly in woods on the banks of the Rhine some years ago, and it has been found in the richly wooded district of Rolvenden, in Kent. Its foliage is like that of the Wood Anemone. A species resembling this in form and habit, but of a brilliant rose colour, adorns the olive groves about Nice in the early spring, as the larger Anemones do the corn and grass ground. The beautiful Scarlet Anemone, the superb ornament of Italian woods, and also of our gardens, is a much-valued member of this family.1 It is told of one of the Mayors of our large towns that when first this flower was introduced into our English gardens he exceedingly coveted some of the seed. This he offered to buy, but the monopolist refused to sell: so his Worship tried finesse to gain his purpose, and proposed to the florist that, as he would not part with his Anemones, the Town Council should come in state to see them. This was esteemed a great honour; and the Mayor managed in his progress to drag the skirt of his velvet robes over the bed of Anemones. The feathery seeds adhered as a matter of course; the blooms of these flowers coming in such long succession and the fruit ripening fast, so that flower and fruit were clustered together; and no sooner did he reach home than with most unlordly haste he picked off the seeds and sowed them. The next year his garden was adorned with the coveted flowers! The Adónis (A. autumnális, or Pheasant's-eye) stands next in order to the Anemones; its little crimson flower gleaming from a miniature thicket of interlacing leaves. These leaves are frequently subdivided and very narrow, and the crimson cup is too small to be showy; it frequents corn fields, and is a constant ornament of old-fashioned gardens. We now come to the true Ranunculus family, the head of the clan, called in English Crowfoots (figs. 25, 26). Here the sepals 1 Varieties of this and other species are described by Tournefort as studding the fields in the islands of the Archipelago. and petals are both present, their number varying from three to six; the carpels are numerous, and end in a kind of horn. We have already noticed the poisonous nature of the whole order; this family of it possesses the quality in an especial degree. Old Gerarde thus writes of it: "There be divers sortes or kindes of these pernicious herbes comprehended under the name of Ranunculus, or Crowfoote, whereof most are very dangerous 5 a d Fig.25. Parts of the flower of the Ranunculus bulbosus, or Buttercup: I, one of the petals, with the scale at the bottom on the inner side; 2, one of the carpels, showing a, the ovary; b, the pistil; and , the stigma; 3, section of the unripe carpel, showing d, the ovule within it; 4, section of the mature carpel filled with the seed-a, the embryo; b, the albumen; 5, the carpels and some of the stamens, implanted on the receptacle. to be taken into the body. The chiefest vertue is in the roote, which, being stamped with salt, is good for those that have a plague sore if it be presently tied to the leg, by means whereof the poison and malignitie of the disease is drawn off from the inwarde partes, for it presently raiseth a blister to what part soever of the body it be applied. Apu leius saith further, that if it be hanged in a linen cloth about the neck of him that is lunatic, in the waine of the moon, when the signe shall be in the first degree of Taurus or Scorpio, that he shall forthwith be cured." Such was the strong admixture of ignorance and superstition which tainted the truth three centuries ago. There are a great number of species of Crowfoot. The Creeping Crowfoot is the common Buttercup; and the bulbous and acrid species also receive the name of Buttercup (Ranúnculus bulbósus). CROWFOOTS "And O the Buttercups! that field "And Henry's lion-standard roll'd: 23 I cannot tell you in how many rambles I have found these plants; from the days when, just able to run, we held the golden cups under each other's chins to see "if we loved butter," to the present time each season has witnessed "The Buttercups across the mead Make sunshine rift of splendour." While searching for wild flowers in the Lizard district, I found the Hairy Crowfoot (R. hirsútus) quite abundant in the pastures; it resembles the Creeping Crowfoot, but is distinguished by its hairs and its rather smaller paler flowers. A Shropshire ramble furnished me with the Biting Crowfoot (R. scelerátus), which I found growing on the margin of ponds and ditches about Kemberton. I found it in similar situations in Cheshire some years ago, but it is by no means a common plant. The lower leaves are palmate, or cut in fingers like a hand; the upper have only three divisions. Both leaves and stem are thick and watery; the plant grows from one to two feet high, and the flowers are small and unattractive. It is the most poisonous member of the family. Fig. 26. Ranunculus Bulbosus, Bulbous Crowfoot, or Buttercup. There is a Corn Crowfoot (R. arvensis) which somewhat resembles this, but it is less clumsy in form, and its large prickly carpels are both curious and pretty. I have frequently found it in corn fields in Kent, Yorkshire, and elsewhere. Two of this family have simple, narrow leaves; they are called the Greater and Lesser Spearworts. The larger species is rare. A specimen was sent to me from near Darlington; and I have seen it growing freely in a pond in the Botanic Gardens at Edinburgh. It is a stately plant with long, spear-shaped leaves, and large golden flowers nearly as big as those of the Marsh Marigold. It is quite erect, and grows to the height of three feet: this is R. língua. The Lesser Spearwort (R. flámmula) is common everywhere on boggy ground and ditches. In the former situation it grows half prostrate; in the latter it becomes erect and very succulent. In this state it may easily be confounded with the Greater Spearwort, only that it is never hairy, and its carpels terminate in a mere point, while those of the larger species have a sword-shaped beak. The last of the yellow Crowfoots is the Lesser Celandine (Ranúnculus ficária), so well known and loved by the poet Wordsworth. "Ill befall the yellow flowers, Others, too, of lofty mien, They have done as worldlings do, Taking praise that should be thine, “Prophet of delight and mirth, Scorn'd and slighted upon earth! MOUSE-TAIL-GLOBE-FLOWER. 25 No wonder that this cheerful flower should be a favourite. It is one of the first that appears as a herald of spring; and few will look upon its glossy star-like petals without a thrill of joy at the mute announcement that the hard, cold winter is passed, and the time of the singing birds and budding blossoms is come. The Lesser Celandine has more petals than the other members of its family, and undivided spade-shaped leaves and tuberous root; so it is well distinguished from the rest. We have three distinctly marked white species:-one with hairy leaf and short stem, which frequents the summit of our highest mountains (Ranúnculus alpína); one with an ivyshaped leaf and tiny flower, growing in water (R. hederáceus); it is a frequent ornament of ponds in Yorkshire, Cheshire, and elsewhere. The third is the prettiest and most frequent of the white species, covering ponds and the margin of lakes with its fragile white blossoms, while its stems extend many feet, bearing round five-lobed fleshy leaves on the upper part, which float like the flowers on the surface of the water, and threadshaped much-divided ones on the lower part, which are always immersed (R. aquátilis). Jean Ingelow must allude to these in saying "And yet within small silver budded weeds." The little Mouse-tail (Myosúrus mínimus), with its spiked cluster of tiny flowers, claims a near relationship with the Buttercups, because of its many carpels and stamens fastened to the receptacle. It is an inhabitant of gravelly fields, but has never rewarded my research. A much more natural relation of the Buttercups is the Globe-Flower (Tróllius europæus). Its petals are larger and of a paler hue, and more numerous than those of any of the Buttercups; they are all cupped, and meet in the centre so as to enclose the stamens and carpels in a perfect globe. We used to be very proud of it, as it grew in great luxuriance in a corner of a shady field bordering the road between Richmond and Reeth. There were but a few plants, but we felt them most precious. But one June as we were making an excursion |