HOW TO STUDY PLANT LIFE 73 



Also, the stems are often weak and lie nearly 

 flat along the ground, and if you look at the 

 center of the flower through your magnifying- 

 glass you will see that each carpel is tipped 

 with a long, nearly straight spur or point, 

 whereas those of your first plant had short, 

 hooked points. This is the Swamp Buttercup, 

 Ranunculus septentrionalis. If you live in 

 New England, you will probably find also the 

 Bulbous Buttercup with furrowed flower- 

 stalks, thick, bulb-like root and radical leaves 

 with shorter, broader segments than in either 

 of the others. Further west may be found the 

 Early Buttercup, Ranunculus hispidus, with 

 root-leaves similar to the last, though less di- 

 vided, but with only fibrous roots and with nar- 

 rower, paler yellow petals. 



When you succeed in finding any two of 

 these plants, Lessons II and III should be the 

 study of Bulbous or Early and Swamp Butter- 

 cups, worked out in six exercises each, after the 

 style of Lesson I. 



You will find the Tall Buttercups changing 

 as the days and weeks go by. One by one they 

 shed sepals, petals, and stamens, and the car- 



