20 THE GENUS ANEMONE. [part i. 



carpels, though lying so close together, are 

 perfectly distinct, and part readily at the 

 slightest touch; and each contains only one seed. 

 It will be seen from this hasty sketch, that 

 the principal point of resemblance between the . 

 genera Anemone and Ranunculus, in a botanical 1 

 point of view, lies in the carpels, which are close 

 together, and are yet so distinct as to part at 

 the slightest touch. There is, however, a general 

 resemblance in some of the flowers, from their 

 five sepals, and numerous stamens, that renders 

 it difficult for a beginner to distinguish an Ane- 

 mone from a Ranunculus. In many of the British 

 species, also, the carpels are not awned, but 

 slightly curved, very like those of a buttercup. 

 I remember being once very much puzzled with 

 a beautiful little bright yellow flower, that I 

 found in a wood. At first I thought it was a 

 Ranunculus, but the petals were pointed and 

 not roundish ; and it could not be a Ficaria, 

 because it had only five petals. At last I looked 

 to see what kind of calyx it had, and found 

 none, that is, no green calyx ; and then, ob- 

 serving the involucre of three leaves growing in 

 a whorl round the stem, at some distance below 

 the flower, I knew it was an Anemone ; and on 

 comparing it with the ylates in Sowerby's 

 English Botany, on my return home, I ascer- 

 tained that it was Anemone ranunculoides. 



