THE LESSEE CELANDINE. 



Ranunculus Ficarla. Nat. Ord., Ranunculacete. 

 NE of the characteristic plants of the 

 early spring is the pilewort, swallow- 

 wort, or lesser celandine, the Ranun- 

 culus Ficaria of botanical nomen- 

 clature. It grows very freely in 

 damp spots, and is one of the few 

 plants that will thrive beneath the 

 shade of trees, where it often forms a 

 dense carpet of glossy foliage. Its 

 root produces thick club or fig-shaped 

 tubers, and by these the plant is 

 increased, as they break off very 

 readily, and each tuber, like a potato, 

 produces a fresh plant ; if, therefore, 

 the ground be not thoroughly cleansed, 

 any labour spent in clearing them away 

 is but lost, and if the plants are dug 

 into the soil they work their way up 

 to the surface again, the stem branching as it goes 

 upward, and at every joint producing fresh tubers. The 

 flowers appear about the middle of February, though under 

 some very favourable circumstances they may be found by 

 the beginning of the month, and the plant remains in 

 blossom throughout March, April, and May, the month of 

 10 



