POLYANDRIA— POLYGYNIA. Ranunculus. 53 



in Fl. Br. belongs to R. polijanthemos, a foreign species, with 

 {mrow&dijlower -stalks, and more finely divided leaves, of which 

 the wooden cuts, in old books, are, as Prof. DeCandoUe well 

 observes, hard to distinguish from those of the acris. 



12. R. arvensis. Corn Crowfoot. 



Seeds very prickly at the sides. Leaves once or twice deeply 

 three-cleft, with linear-lanceolate segments. Stem erect, 

 much branched, many-flowered. 



R. arvensis, Unn. Sp. PI. 780. IVilld. v. 2. 1329. Fl. Br. 594. 

 Engl. Bot. V. 2. t. 135. Curt. Lond.fasc. 6. t. 36. Mart. Rust. 

 t. 56. Hook. Scot. 175. DeCand. Syst. v. 1. 297. Fl. Dan. 

 t. 219. Brugnon Mem. de V Acad, de Turin, v. 4. 108. t. 3. Cord. 

 Hist. 120./. 



R. n. 1176. Hall. Hist. v. 2. 75. 



R. arvorum. Raii Sijti. 24S. Ger. Em. 95] ./. Lob.Ic.665.f. 



R. hortensis simplicis, prima species. Fuchs. Hist. lo7.f. Daleth. 

 Hist. 1030./. 



Corn Crowfoot. Pet. H. Brit. t. 38. f. 10. 



In corn -fields, not uncommon. 



Annual. June. 



Root fibrous. Herb of a pale shining green, nearly, but not quite, 

 smooth. Stem erect, in a favourable soil much branched, round, 

 leafy. Leaves alternate, the upper ones partly opposite, all 

 once or twice divided in a three-fold manner, with linear-lanceo- 

 late, bluntish, mostly entire, rather fleshy segments. Fl. small, 

 lemon-coloured, solitary, on simple stalks opposite to the leaves. 

 Cal. spreading, narrow, hairy. Pet. obovate. Seeds large, each 

 w^ith an upright awl-shaped point, their flat sides densely armed 

 with numerous, sharj), prominent prickles. 



Very acrid and dangerous to cattle, though they are said to eat it 

 greedily. M. Brugnon, who has given a particular account of 

 its qualities, relates that 3 ounces of the juice killed a dog in 

 4 minutes. Several sheep were killed by feeding on this herb 

 near Turin, which first led to an investigation of the matter. 

 Cholic, with inflammation of the stomach, were the symptoms, 

 which were best removed by pouring vinegar down the animals' 

 throats. Hence, like most vegetable poisons, this Crowfoot 

 seems to act on the nerves, and yet black spots were found in 

 the sheep's stomachs. 



13. Ji. parvi^orus. Small-flowered Crowfoot. 

 Seeds armed at the sides with hooked prickles. Leaves 



simple, hairy, sharply cut; upper ones three-lobed. Stem 



prostrate. 

 R. parviflorus. Linn. Sp.Pl. 780. Willd. v. 2. 1329. Fl. Br. 594. 



Engl. Bot.v.2.t. 120. DeCand.Syst. v.] .300. Fl. Dan.t. 1218. 



