2”, de fyyy 
wine Viz a 
2) ee te } 
only cp ae Lips ieee ES YY 
“AW "\Z, PUR (CS ier { iG pe) 
f ee | pager ih gS Fd) ee Le ae - 
Ve | ea c fS oll) i Tita! Adina P25 f Bl; EZ 
\ <a . ie 
rn 
UITE early in the new year 
the botanist who is looking 
alongthe hedge-banksand the 
copse-sides to see how things 
are moving, 1s sure to come 
upon great numbers of neat 
little glossy, heart-shaped 
leaves, not much more than half an inch long, some of 
them with whitish patches upon them. They lie 
pretty flat upon the ground, or a little above it, their 
stalks radiating from a central rootstock. These 
are the leaves of the Lesser Celandine, or Pilewort 
(Ranunculus ficaria), and a week or a month later 
we may find, in addition to the leaves, an abundance 
of starry blossoms of rich burnished gold flashing 
brightly in the fickle sunshine. If, when the flowers 
have made their appearance, we take up one of the 
plants with a trowel and wash the earth from its 
roots, it will serve as an introduction to the important 
Buttercup family (Ranunculacec). 
The roots of the plant are seen to be thick, fleshy, 
57 
