CROWFOOT TRIBE. 13 



**#* Flower 8 yellow ; leaves divided ; carpels not 

 smooth. 



11. R, hirsutus (Pale Hairy Buttercup). Calyx re- 

 flexed ; root fibrous ; carpels margined, and rough with 

 small warts. Meadows and waste ground. Smaller 

 than either of the last three, for stunted specimens of 

 which it might be mistaken. Fl. June October. An- 

 nual. A double variety is sometimes found wild. 



12. R. arvensis (Com Crowfoot). Calyx spreading ; 

 carpels large and prickly. Corn-fields. Well distin- 

 guished by its deeply-cut smooth foliage, as well as by 

 its prickly carpels. One of the most poisonous of the 

 genus ; yet its seeds are said to be the favourite food of 

 partridges. Fl. June. Annual. 



13. R. parviflorus (Small-flowered Crowfoot). Stem 

 prostrate, hairy ; seeds covered with small hooked 

 prickles. Fields and waste places, not common. Well 

 distinguished by its hairiness, prostrate mode of growth, 

 and inconspicuous flowers which grow opposite the 

 leaves. Fl. May August. Annual. 



* Most of the plants in this genus are acrid, and are 

 said to be iDjurious to cattle if mixed largely with their 

 food. R. Fldmmula and sceleratus are used in the 

 Hebrides to raise blisters ; these are, however, of objec- 

 tionable use, being likely to produce sores difncult to 

 heal. R. aqudtilis is by some botanists separated into 

 several species. Another species, R. alpestris, which 

 grows on the Clova mountains, has divided leaves and 

 white flowers. 



6. MYOSURUS (Mouse-tail). 



1. M. minimus (Common Mouse-tail). A small an- 

 nual, plant, 3 6 inches high, growing in gravelly or 

 chalky cornfields in many parts of England, easily 

 distinguished from every other British plant by the 

 arrangement of its ripe carpels into the appearance of a 

 mouse's tail. Fl. May. Annual. 



