170 



HARDWICKE'S S CIENCE- GOSSIP. 



[Aug. 1, 13GS. 



botanists would appreciate. Still, supposing we 

 continue to apply the name aquatilis to those 

 species ■which have both floating aud submerged 

 leaves, is there any reason why we should not 

 distinguish as forms, at least, those few which very 

 rarely have floating leaves, and which are sufficiently 

 frequent to be readily examined ? The Floating 

 Water Crowfoot (R.fnitans), for example, grows only 

 in running water, in this forming an exception to the 

 general rule of Water Crowfoots. In this species 

 the leaves are divided into very long, narrow seg- 

 ments, and flowers are seldom produced save when 

 the plant is out of the current of the stream. Two 

 nearly-allied forms, R. Drouetii and R. trichophyllus, 

 are confined to ponds and ditches, and a passer-by 

 might not note the difference between them ; but 

 when R. Droitetii is taken out of the water, the 

 leaves collapse into the form of camel's-hair pencils, 

 whereas if R. trichophyllus be similarly treated, the 

 segments remain almost as rigid as when in their 

 "native element." R. Drouetii, too, has usually 

 light green leaves, while in R. trichophyllus they 

 are very dark, sometimes almost black. Both of 

 these have small flowers ; but there is yet another, 

 the Rigid-leaved Water Crowfoot (R. circinatus), 

 which has large flowers, and leaves which do not 

 collapse, are round in outline, and have the seg- 

 ments " all placed in one plane " — that is, flat. The 

 Ivy-leaved Crowfoot (R. hederaceus), having no 

 divided submerged leaves, is sufficiently distinct to 

 be at once recognized; while the various other 

 forms in which leaves of both kinds appear have 

 been collectively named R. helerophyllus, although 

 modern botanists have restricted this name to one 

 form . 



If we here abandon our Water Crowfoots, we 

 shall find that our land species have also received a 

 share of attention. We may first notice the Pile- 

 wort, or Lesser Celandine (R. Ficaria), of which 

 two forms are described in "English Botany." The 

 first, called divergens, has the " lobes of the lowest 

 leaves separate at the base ; the lowest sheaths 

 narrow." The second, incumbers, has the " lobes of 

 the lowest leaves overlapping at the base ; lowest 

 sheaths broad, clasping." Mr. Syme speaks of 

 the first of these as " common throughout Britain." 

 Of the second, he states that he has a specimen col- 

 lected near Edinburgh in 1S49. We have this year 

 examined some hundreds of Buckinghamshire speci- 

 mens, in the hope of discovering this second variety ; 

 but we have not found a single exception to the 

 first-named form, so that we may infer that incwrn- 

 bens is of rare occurrence. The Wood Crowfoot 

 (R. auricomus) formed the subject of a letter by the 

 Rev. Gerard Smith, published in the " Gardener's 

 Chronicle" some three or four years back. He 

 directed attention to the existence of two forms — 

 one with perfect, the other with imperfect, petals. 

 This latter, which he proposed to call R. inconstans, 



is doubtless in 'most places the commoner form. 

 " R. auricomus" he writes, " is earlier, larger, loves 

 more sunny spots, is of a brighter green, and has 

 the petals equal, without a notch. The other form 

 flowers after R. auricomus, courts shade, is of a 

 darker green, and has fewer petals, sometimes 

 none ; and when showing a corolla, the petals are 

 unequal in size, often notched, and never so full as 

 those of R. auricomus" R. inconstans, however, 

 has not received further attention, and, indeed, as 

 far as the flowers are concerned, cannot claim to be 

 considered distinct even as a variety ; for about 

 Wycombe it is by no means unusual to find a plant 

 bearing one or two perfect flowers, and the remainder 

 defective. Mr. Syme says, " In Scotch specimens 

 I have very seldom found the flowers perfect, but 

 in Kent and Surrey they are generally so." The 

 Upright Meadow Crowfoot [R. acris), again, is 

 divided into three forms, two of which are "very 

 common throughout the kingdom." In the first, 

 R. Stereni, the stem has " scattered hairs at the 

 base," and the segments, or divisions, of the root- 

 leaves are not overlapping. In the' second, R. vul- 

 gatus, the base of the stem and footstalks are 

 densely clothed with hairs, and the segments of the 

 root-leaves overlap each other. It might, perhaps, 

 be thought that we bad now exhausted the "splits" 

 of the Ranuuculacea', but this is by no means the 

 case. We will not stay to consider the forms of 

 the Lesser Meadow Rue, nor the three varieties 

 into which the Common Meadow Rue (Thalicfrum 

 jlavum) is divided ; we will pass by two varieties of 

 the Lesser Spearwort (Ranunculus flammula), and 

 we have "said our say" about the water-loving 

 species of Ranunculus ; but we must just stay for 

 a moment to look at the Marsh Marigold (Caltha 

 palustris). We may remark, by the way, that in 

 this plant the blossoms do not owe their brilliancy 

 to the petals, for these are altogether wanting, 

 their place being supplied by the usually insig- 

 nificant, but in this case prominent, sepals. This 

 exception to the general rule may also be observed 

 in other Ranunculaccous plants ; as in Traveller's 

 Joy {Clematis vitalba), and in various species of 

 Anemone. In the usual form of Caltha palustris: 

 these sepals are large, roundish egg-shaped, and 

 contiguous— that is, touching or overlapping at the 

 edges ; but in the form C. Guerangerii they are 

 smaller, oblong egg-shaped, and " not contiguous 

 when fully expanded." Mr. Syme says this last 

 " may not be uncommon ; " but he has only seen it 

 from two Scotch localities. We believe that we 

 have noticed it on a common near London ; at any 

 rate, it should be looked for. We have purposely 

 dwelt upon the order Ranunculacese in order that 

 our readers may in some measure realize what has 

 been done in the way of " splitting " for the other 

 orders. Wc must now, however, pass on more 

 rapidly, selecting one or two of the more conspicuous 



