THALAMIFLORAZ 45 
this plant also because it was supposed by doctrine 
of signatures to be a remedy for piles, because the 
little tubers so closely resemble them! This is a 
good example of the crude reasoning of the herbalists 
of Gerard’s day and onwards. 
The Lesser Celandine is a very common plant, found 
in all parts of the British Isles in shady places, and 
though generally common in lowland districts, occurs 
on hills at a height of over two thousand feet. 
It is very unlike a buttercup, but is truly a member 
of that group. There are several peculiarities it 
possesses which rank it near the Monocotyledons. 
Thus it has but one cotyledon, and the calyx is in 
three parts, whilst the petals vary from five to ten or 
even sixteen. 
It is largely propagated by the little tubers, and is 
in some cases stoloniferous, spreading laterally by 
rooting stems. 
It is to be found in damp woods, where there is 
a good deal of clay on the sides of ditches, and 
generally under trees, where it grows well. I have 
seen a copse covered as with a carpet of shining gold 
in Spring by this lovely little flower. And when the 
sun is strong, the petals, which are shining, look like 
burnished gold. They are paler as the flowers get 
older, and after a time the whole plant becomes very 
untidy-looking, the leaves turning yellow, until later 
nothing remains but a bunch of the little tubers, 
which each furnish the starting-point, like diminutive 
potatoes, for a fresh plant next year. When it grows 
