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HOUSE, GARDEN, AND FIELD 



FlG. 56. Upright 

 buttercup (Ranun- 

 culus acris). Flower 

 with spreading sepals. 



according to the form of the leaves, for no two are quite 

 alike in this respect. This arrangement would bring out 

 the existence of a pretty regular gradation in the shape 

 of the leaves, but the gradation is so gradual that the 

 groups would be ill-defined. The carpels 

 differ in the different species ; in some 

 they are rough, while in others they are 

 smooth. The flower-stalks differ ; in 

 some they are furrowed, in others not 

 furrowed. The sepals differ ; in some 

 they are bent back (reflexed) when the 

 flower is open, in others they are 

 spreading. Lastly there is a difference 

 in the honey-gland ; in some it is naked, 

 while in others it is protected by a small 

 scale. What organ shall we take as the 

 basis of our primary division ? Some botanists have said 

 that the reproductive organs of the plant may be ex- 

 pected to yield more valuable characters than any other 

 organs, and for the chief divisions 

 of the buttercups they would 

 prefer characters taken from the 

 carpels or stamens to characters 

 taken from flower-stalks or leaves. 

 Some have said that convenience 

 in naming is the chief or only 

 consideration ; others that it does 

 not matter in the least where you 

 get your characters, if they yield 

 natural divisions. The success of 

 the division, they would say, has 

 to be judged altogether by the 

 greater or less resemblance in many small details of the 

 associated species. 



We may make a beginning by remarking that the celery- 

 leaved buttercup (Ranunculus sceleratus) is tolerably 

 distinct from most other buttercups, and may come at 



FIG. 57. Bulbous butter- 

 cup (Ranunculus bulbosus). 

 Flower with reflexed sepals. 

 A detached petal, with gland 

 and scale. 



