THE BUTTERCUP FAMILY, RANUNCULACE^. 



The Buttercup family contains a few weeds of secondary importance, as 

 tlie Tall Buttercup, Ranunculus acris, L., which occurs in almost every part 

 of the Dominion, and the Creeping Crowfoot, Ranunculus repens, L., which 

 is troublesome in pastures in the Maritime Provinces, and is also found in 

 other districts. Both are perennials which are acrid and irritating to the 

 mouths of stock when eaten in a fresh state, but lose their noxious qualities 

 when made into hay. The Cursed Crowfoot, Ranunculus sceleratiis, L., is 

 so acrid that the juice will blister the skin. The Sea-side Crowfoot, Ranun- 

 culus Cymbalaria, Pursh, has been suspected of poisoning stock in the North- 

 west. The flowers in this family are either regular or irregular; the fruits 

 are very variable, and the seeds may be contained in berries, in dry pods, or 

 in achenes, which are small, separate, seed-like dry fruits, containing a single 

 seed in a hard, close-fitting shell which does not open of itself, but remains 

 closed until burst by the germinating seed. In the division of the family to 

 which the true buttercups belong, the fruit is a head made up of several 

 achenes. The seeds (achenes) of several kinds of Buttercup may be found 

 in commercial grass seeds and are [Plate 55, fig. 42 — natural size and enlarged 

 4 times] mostly flattened, somewhat oval in outline, pointed at one end, dark 

 coloured and margined, from one-tweltfh to one-eighth of an inch across. 

 None of the species of Butter-cup are deep-rooted, and all can be controlled 

 by breaking up the pastures and re-seeding to grass. In this family 

 there are also some virulently poisonous plants, as the Larkspurs (Del- 

 phiniuTn) and Monkshoods (Aconitum) of the western plains. The 

 Crocus Anemone, Anemone patens, L., var. Nuttalliana, Gray, has 

 been the cause of losses in flocks of sheep. Owing to its earliness in flowering 

 and its succulence, the hairy stems are eaten in quantity and the copious 

 hairs, remaining undigested, form balls in the stomachs of the sheep. The 

 White or Pennsylvanian Anemou^'. Anami'ic cnnndensis. L., sometimes in- 

 creases so much in low pastures that it crowds oiit the grasses and necessitates 

 the breaking up of the sod. The seed [Plate 55, fig. 41 — natural size and 

 enlarged 4 times] is sometimes found with the seeds of grasses. At figure 

 42, on the same plate, is the seed of the Tall Buttercup, a common impurity 

 in the seeds of the coarser grasses. [1^ natural size and enlarged 4 times.] 



THE FUMITORY FAMILY, FUMARIACE^. 



An occasional weed in the wheat fields of Manitoba is the Golden Ftjmi- 

 TOST, Corydalis aurea, Willd. This plant sometimes appears in low land 

 and in restricted areas, in such numbers as to crowd out grain crops sown 

 on stubble. It is a succulent biennial with golden-yellow irregular flowers, 

 the seeds [Plate 55, fig. 43 — twice nat. size and enlarged 4 times] are shining 

 black, rounded-kidney-shaped, about one-twelfth of an inch across, borne in 

 one-celled, square, somewhat knotty, curved pods which split down one side 

 to shed the seeds. Spring or fall plowing or the disking of stubbles before 

 sowing will clear them of this weed. 



THE MUSTARD FAMILY, CRUCIFER/E. 



There are few orders of plants of so great economic importance as the 

 Mustard family, not only from the large number of troublesome weeds it 



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