Wild Flower Families 



CROWFOOT FAMILY 



RANUNCULACE^ 



The Buttercup is a typical example of the 

 great Crowfoot family, which includes a con- 

 siderable number of our most familiar wild 

 flowers. A large proportion of these are 

 annuals, although some are perennials. They 

 nearly all have acrid juices in the stems and leaves. 

 Both sepals and petals are usually present, the 

 former often being petal-like. A large propor- 

 tion of the flowers of early spring belong to this 

 family, the Latin name being derived from that 

 of the genus Ranunculus, to which the Buttercups 

 belong. 



Hepatica. The Hepatica or Liver-leaf may 

 fairly claim to be the first of the spring wild 

 flowers. The Swamp Cabbage is not commonly 

 recognized as a flower, and the Bloodroot is too 

 local in its distribution to be universally known, 

 while the Trailing Arbutus is more limited in its 

 geographic range than the Hepatica. Conse- 



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