204 TYPES OF BRITISH PLANTS 
of the deepest violet, set off in the centre by a crowd of 
the characteristic yellow stamens of the order. Of the 
Crowfoots we have thirteen varieties in England alone, 
but they belong unmistakably to one group. The Water 
Crowfoots (two) are white, but the rest are of a brilliant 
shining yellow, the petals almost appearing to have been 
varnished in many cases, These petals, though five is 
the typical number, vary in an astonishing fashion. The 
Celandine, for instance, varies 
from seven to thirteen, the 
little Scarlet Adonis from eight 
to eleven. A word is due to the 
quaint little Winter Aconite, 
whose flower nestles, at the 
top of the stem, in the centre 
of a ring of finely-cut leaves. 
It is a doubtful native, but 
you may find it now unculti- 
vated in many woods. 
The lttle Mousetail, which 
grows in dry cornfields, has 
a most ingenious method for 
securing pollen. At first flower- 
ing, the stamens are set in a 
ring on a level with the top 
of a spike, upon which are set 
a number of pistils. But as 
the stamens shed their pollen 
the spike begins to grow, and pushes the stigmas each in 
its turn against the pollen, until all have been fertilised 
and the spike stands far above the tiny flower, looking 
exactly what its name indicates. 
The Globe-flower, which one most often meets in 
WINTER ACONITE. 
