oG MEDICINAL HERBS AND POISONOUS PLANTS 



toxic i)rinciple is present in greater quantity than in the 

 plants mentioned above, and cattle browsing in boggy 

 pastures, when this plant is present, run a very serious 

 risk. More than one fatal case is on record in which 

 horses and cattle have 

 the Spearwort. 



been killed throutjli browsintj on 



Lesser Celandixe (R. Ficaria) has characteristic 



small club-shaped under- 

 gi*ound roots wliich, when 

 young, are eaten as a 

 salad ; but a toxic sub- 

 stance is developed later, 

 as the same roots wdien a 

 little older are distinctly 

 poisonous. They reach 



most dan2'erous 



iod 



thei 



sta2^ during the 



per 



of flowerino^. 



Fig. 26.— Celery-leaved Ranunculus 

 {RaimaciiluH Sceleratvs) 



Celery - leaved Ra- 

 nunculus (R, Sceleratus) 



(fig. 26).— This plant is 

 used by the tramp fra- 

 ternity in the same way 

 as Traveller s Joy. As in 

 the case of other members 

 of the orders, the poison 

 is easily dissipated by heat. The chief danger from 

 this herb arises from the resemblance its leaves bear to 

 those of Parsley or Celery, and several cases are on 

 record of disastrous results following the making of this 

 mistake. Cattle have been knoAvn to die after eating 

 this plant when they got it mixed up in their fodder. 



Marsii Marigold (Caltha pahtstris) (fig. 27).— In 



Germany the young buds are pickled like Capers, The 

 same aci-id poison Avhich is common to the rest of the 



