36 



POISONOUS PLANTS 



It has smooth divided leaves and very small 

 flowers, and small oblong masses of minute achenes 

 (Fig. 9). It was formerly used medicinally ; but 

 as accidents happened, it has been discarded by 

 modern practitioners. The juice acts as an irritant 

 on the skin. As heat dispels the poison, the poor 

 have been known to eat the young shoots when 

 boiled. The leaves, as of several of the Umbellifers 



Fig. 9. Ranunculus sceleratus ; Celery-leaved Ranunculus. 



which resemble parsley or celery, have been eaten 

 as such with harmful results. Cattle have even 

 died in consequence of the species having been 

 mixed up in miscellaneous herbage as fodder. 



Bulbous Ranunculus (7?. ^///^^i-//.?) and Field 

 Buttercup (R. acris, Fig. i), so named by Linnaeus 

 for its acridity, are equally common in meadows ; 

 the former flowering first, and then followed by the 

 latter. 



