(58 FAMILIAR WILD FLOWERS. 



ladies'-smock, and marsh marigold, that flowered at the 

 time of the arrival of the cuckoos; and it is an open ques- 

 tion whether the meadow-crowfoot was ever included by 

 the mediseval writers in this happy family. If not, it at 

 all events very well might have been. 



In France the meadow-crowfoot is the grenouillette, a 

 name similar in meaning to its generic name Ranunculus, 

 and referring to the moist meadow land in which the plant 

 best prospers. In the mediseval botanieo-astrological trea- 

 tises the meadow crowfoot was reckoned a plant of Mars, 

 on account of its acrid and fiery nature. One old author 

 we see says of it, " They grow very common everywhere ; 

 unless you turn your head into a hedge you cannot but see 

 them as you walk." We doubt, indeed, if even this would 

 be sufficient to avoid all sight of them, for we have seen 

 their golden blossoms springing up on many a hedge-bank, 

 but we may accept his somewhat flippant statement, 'as it 

 stands at least as a testimony of the abundance of the 

 /lower. 



