28 BUTTERCUPS. 



For practical purposes, therefore, we may note the following 

 as among the essential points of diflerence between these 

 Buttercups. 



£. acris. Stem erect, without bulblike base. Sepals 

 spreading upwards. 



R. repens. Stoloniferous. Main stem (usually) erect. Sepals 

 spreading upwards. 



R. bulbosus. Base of stem bulblike. Sepals reflexed. 



The three differ somewhat in their times of flowering. 

 R. bulbosus, speaking generally, begins to blossom about the 

 middle of April, and ceases about the middle of June: R. 

 repens is in perfection during the summer months, but occa- 

 sional specimens may be found almost all the year round: 

 R. acris comes into flower about a fortnight later than R. 

 bulbosus, and continues until the end of June; occasionally 

 as in the late autumn of 1868, producing a second crop of 

 blossoms. 



All the Buttercups have- a tendency to produce double 

 flowers. Examples of the transition or conversion of one 

 part of a plant into another will occur to every one : an admi- 

 rable example will be found in the White Watcrlily Nymphcea 

 alba), in which the outer circle of petals is tinged with green, 

 thus approximating to the sepals, and the inmost circles pa.ss 

 almost imperceptibly into the stamens. The large number of 

 stamens in the Buttercups offer ample opportunities for con- 

 version into petals, and thus it is that, especially in R. repens, 

 we often find one or two odd petals among the stamens. 

 Occasionally all the stamens become thus changed ; and the 

 result is a perfectly double flower, such as Gerarde says he 

 found while "walking in the field next to the Theatre by 

 London, in the company of a worshipfuU merchant named 

 Mr. Nicolas Lete". The double-flowered variety of ^. acm 

 is permanent, and is cultivated in gardens under the name of 

 "Bachelor's Button." A curious figure is given by Gerarde 

 of a double Crowfoot which "thrusteth forth of the middest 

 of the floures one other smaller floure," in a manner similar 

 to a monstrosity which not unfrequently occurs in garden 

 roses, when a leaf-bud, or a second blossom, grows through 

 the centre of the flower. 



Having said thus much about the plants, we will glance for 

 a moment at their names. Whether the practice, common 



