STUDIES OF PLANT LIFE 



One of the prettiest of the Ranunculus family is the 



CREEPING SPEARWORT Ranunculus reptans (Gray), 



a tiny, delicate plant, with slender thready stems rooting 

 from beneath the joints. The leaves are very narrow and 

 pointed, those nearest to the root a little lobed or eared. 

 The little bright golden shining flowers only a few lines 

 broad, are borne in the axils of the leaves of the prostrate 

 creeping stems, and peep out from the sandy soil among 

 tufts of minute hairy sedges (Eleocharis acicularis) that 

 clothe the damp low-lying shores of rivers or lakes. There 

 are several Water Crowfoots, some with white flowers, 

 others with yellow. These latter flowers float upon the 

 surface of slow-flowing rivers or lakes, gently rising or 

 falling with the motion of the waters. The beautiful 

 adaptation of plants to soil and circumstances may be 

 noticed in these and some other aquatic plants which have 

 their foliage dissected into narrow segments, so that the 

 water may freely flow through them. Of the water 

 Ranunculi, we may mention White Water Crowfoot (R. 

 aquatilis) and Yellow Water Crowfoot (R. multifidus). 



There are among our native Ranunculus flowers a few 

 plants of which the outward beauties of their blossoms are 

 better known to us than their useful qualities, though 

 doubtless even the lowliest among them has a part to per- 

 form, not for man's sole benefit, but for the support or 

 shelter of some of God's creation among the insect tribes 

 or smaller animals or birds which find nourishment in 

 their seeds, leaves or roots. It is a remarkable fact that 

 rarely, if ever, is the flower of any plant selected for food 

 by bird or beast. 



There are many native plants of the order Ranunculaceae, 



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