94 .VILD FLOWERS OF SPRING. 



have "oped their golden eyes" before the butterbur 

 and the Ladysmock will have bloomed. The plate-like 

 leaves of the Lilies have arisen ere the leaves of the 

 butterbur appear. 



Though aquatic plants, as a rule, are acrid and 

 poisonous, the Water Crowsfoot (Ranunculus aqua- 

 tilis) is a remarkable exception, considering the acrid 

 nature of the family. Its green foliage and pretty 

 white flowers, known by their similarity to the butter- 

 cup, are wholesome. Cattle eat it readily, and pos- 

 sibly it might be made of great use as a fodder plant. 

 It is diflicult to distinguish the form of its three-cleft 

 foliage under water if the current is strong, for the 

 flower alone rears its head in the air. 



The spring will have advanced somewhat ere the 

 pink flowers of the Eagged Eobin (Lychnis flos- 

 cuculi), the cuckoo flower of Shakespeare. Its jagged 

 petals flaunt by the side of the streamlet, and overtop 

 the meadow grass on its tall stems and long purple- 

 yeined seed-cup until midsummer. In the meantime, 

 the many-shaped foliage of the reeds and rushes are 1 

 growing, and in a sheltered spot, towards the end of 

 May, the Eough-leaved Comfrey (Symphylum offi- 

 cinale) begins to show its yellowish-green bells from 



