RANUNCULUS 



732 



RAPATEA 



R. pygmae'us (pygmy). J. April. Northern and Arctic 



regions. 1810. 

 pyren&'us (Pyrenean). i. White. May. Europe. 



bupleurifo'lius (Bupleui-um-leaved). . White. 



June. Pyrenees. 1818. 

 recurva'tus (curled-back-s^^rf). June. N. Amer. 



1827. 

 re' pens. ( creeping). |-i. May to September. Northern 



temperate regions (Britain). " Creeping Crowfoot." 

 Ho' re-pie' no (creeping-double-flowered). f. July. 

 rhomboi'deus (diamond-leaved). See R. OVALIS. 

 ru'fulus (reddish-haired). See R. CH^ROPHYLLOS. 

 ruUzfo'lius (rue-leaved). \. White. June. Austria. 



1759- 



Sabi'ni (Sabine's). See R. PYGM^US. 

 salsugino'sus (salt), i. April. Siberia. 1822. 

 Scho'ttii (Schott's). Austria. 

 Seguie'ri (Seguier's). *. White. June. Europe. 



1819. 



Sibtho'rpii (Sib thorp's). Greece. 

 Sommie'ri (Sommier's). i. Bright yellow. Caucasus. 



1897. 

 spica'tus (spike-flowered), i. Yellow. April. Algiers. 



1850. 



spruneria'nus (Sprunerian). Greece. 

 Steve'nii (Steven's). See R. ACRIS STEVENI. 

 tomento'sus (woolly). See R. REPENS. 

 ,, unifl-o'rus (one-flowered). Country unknown. 

 Villa'rsi (Villars's). i. June. S. Europe. 1819. 

 toallichia'nus (Wallichian). Himalaya. 

 RANU'NCULUS (R. asia'ticus) AS A FLORIST'S 

 FLOWER. 



Varieties. These are very numerous and annually 

 increased. 



Soil. This should be of a fine texture, easily broken, 

 and moderately light. It should feel soft to the hand, 

 and have a little but a little sand amongst it. The 

 best is generally found near to rivers. Let it be laid on 

 a long heap, not too thick, and turned over once a month 

 for a year. It will then be in good condition for use. 

 Remove the old soil away from the bed you intend for 

 ranunculuses to the depth, if the situation is dry, of 

 15 inches : if wet, 10 inches will do. Put in a layer of 

 very rotten cow-dung, 2 inches thick ; then bring the 

 soil, put in a layer of 4 inches, upon that put a layer of 

 rotten hotbed dung i inch thick, and so proceed till 

 the bed is full, and raised 2 or 3 inches above the surface. 

 Let the bed be edged with boards or slates. Hoop it 

 over, to protect it from heavy rain, snows, and hail- 

 stones. Turn it over, mixing the materials together 

 well, only take care not to disturb the layer of cow-dung 

 at the bottom. Let this turning operation be performed 

 two or three times at intervals of three or four weeks 

 between, finishing the last about the end of January, 

 so as to allow the bed to settle by the planting time in 

 February. 



Planting. The best time for doing this is between the 

 8th and 2oth of February. The soil of the bed ought 

 to be neither wet nor dry. To prove its state, take up 

 a handful, gently squeeze it, and let it fall about half a 

 yard ; if it is in a right condition, it will fall in pieces. 

 With a rake level the soil; then, with a triangular- 

 shaped and rather small hoe, or with the corner of a 

 common hand-hoe, draw a drill across the bed, 2 inches 

 deep ; draw the next 5 inches distant from the first, 

 and so on till the whole bed is finished. Commence 

 this some fine morning, when there is a prospect of the 

 day continuing fine. When the drills are all finished, 

 sprinkle at the bottom of each drill some fine sand ; 

 then bring out your ranunculus roots, with a numbered 

 label, made either of lead, with the number stamped 

 upon it, or of wood, with each number written upon it 

 with a black-lead pencil Tipon a coating of white-lead. 

 Begin then to plant the variety written in your book 

 opposite No. i ; take each root between your finger and 

 thumb, and place it at the bottom of the drill, very 

 gently pressing it down in the sand to about half the 

 length of the claws of each root. Having placed the 

 first to your mind, put the next at 4 inches distance 

 from it, and so proceed till you have planted all the first 

 kind; then thrust in the numbered label, either with 

 the number facing the kind, or with its back to it. Both 

 ways are practised by florists, but \\ e prefer the number to 

 face the variety it belongs to. If our plan is followed 



the number should be always put in first, the whole 

 of the variety planted, and then the second number 

 put in, and the second kind planted. Follow on in this 

 manner till the bed is filled. As soon as that is com- 

 pleted, cover the roots just over the crowns with some 

 more of the fine sand : this sand prevents the roots 

 from getting too wet, or moulding. Then with a rake 

 carefully level down the soil into the drills. If your 

 bed is not edged with boards or slates (as recommended 

 before), stretch a line on one side of the bed, about 

 4 inches from the roots, and with the back of the spade 



Eat the soil on the side of the bed gently, to make it 

 rm ; then chop down the edge of the bed nearly 

 perpendicularly. 



After-culture. It is essential to the success of this 

 flower that the soil about them should be close and firm, 

 almost approaching to hardness. If the bed has been 

 rightly prepared, and the flower planted according to 

 the instructions given, all will be well. When the tops 

 begin to push through the soil, it will be of the greatest 

 importance to tread the soil down very firm between 

 the rows, and if any symptoms of cracking in the soil 

 appear, the surface should be stirred to prevent it. Pro- 

 tection from sharp late frosts should be given, by covering 

 whenever such weather is likely to take place, and it is 

 equally beneficial to protect from heavy rains. Both 

 are best excluded by hoops extended across the bed to 

 support a covering of tarpaulin or oil-cloth. During 

 April and May, should dry weather prevail, water may 

 be cautiously administered at intervals in an evening, 

 but only just so much as will prevent the soil of the bed 

 from cracking ; or a little moss or old, spent tanners' 

 bark, &c., may be neatly placed between the rows, 

 which will retain the moisture in the soil. The over- 

 abundant application of water is a very common error, 

 and one of the greatest evils. 



The dying of leaves, in some instances, evidently 

 depends on a want of vigour, or partial rot in the root ; 

 and, in some few cases, it would appear to be caused 

 by large earthworms, forming their wide tracks amid the 

 roots of the plants, nearly undermining them ; but in 

 the great majority of cases it is produced by injudicious 

 watering. 



During the expansion of the flower-buds, and when 

 they are fully blown, an awning should be erected over 

 the bed, as in the case of tulips, that rain and hot sun 

 may be excluded ; and gentle watering every second or 

 third evening may be given, which will keep the bed 

 cool and moist, arid promote the size of the flower. As 

 much air should be admitted as possible, that the flower- 

 stems be not drawn and weakened. 



Raising Seedlings. Save seed only from varieties dis- 

 tinguished for excellence of form and colour. Sow in 

 February, and place the boxes in a cool greenhouse or 

 frame. "Sow in boxes 18 inches by 1 1 inches, and 4 inches 

 deep, full of loamy earth, and the surface level. Sow 

 the seeds about the eighth of an inch apart ; cover them 

 as thinly as possible, and water with a fine rose ; but 

 place the boxes under glass, without heat. The plants 

 usually make their appearance in about a month. Give 

 air day and night, except in severe frost ; then cover up 

 with straw mats. With such protection, the young 

 plants will endure the severest seasons. Put the boxes 

 in the open ground up to the second week in May, and 

 water daily until the leaves begin to wither ; then suffer 

 the boxes to become quite dry ; and in the middle of 

 July take them up, and preserve the roots in bags until 

 February, and then plant them as the general stock. 

 In the following June they flower. 



Taking up. The roots, in wet seasons, should be taken 

 up as soon as the leaves turn yellow, as they are apt 

 to sprout ; but in dry seasons they may remain until 

 the leaves are brown. Take them up as dry as the 

 season will permit ; complete the drying in a warm 

 room, rather than in the sun, and store them in a dry, 

 cool place. 



Forcing. Select tubers which have been kept three 

 or four months, or even a year over the season of planting, 

 these being more easily excited than those which have 

 been only the usual time out of the soil; plant them 

 in pots about the beginning of August ; and, by bringing 

 these into the greenhouse at different periods, a bloom 

 is kept up from October to February. 



RAPA'TEA. ( From rapum, a turnip, in allusion to the 

 tuberous rootstock. Nat. ord. Rapateacea?.) 



