354 ORDER RANUNCULACE.E. 



511. A group which departs more widely from the ordinary 

 characters of the tribe, is that which includes the Hellebores and 

 their allies. The irregularity of these chiefly lies in the petals 

 and stamens. In the Trollius, or globe-flower, which inhabits 

 moist mountain pastures in this country, and is conspicuous with 

 its large handsome flowers, the petals are contracted into little 

 linear bodies, scarcely exceeding the stamens in size ; and it is 

 to the petalline character of the sepals, which are usually about 

 15 in number, that their showy aspect is due. The Caltha, or 

 Marsh Marigold, which grows in large tufts in wet meadows 

 and by the sides of ditches, has no petals at all. The common 

 Green Hellebore^ abundant in woods, thickets, and hedges, espe- 

 cially in calcareous soils, -and the Stinking Hellebore, a bushy 

 plant of similar habits, are easily known by their large greenish - 

 yellow sepals, and their small tubular petals. A foreign species 

 of Hellebore is cultivated in our gardens under the name of 

 Christmas Rose ; here the substitution of petals for stamens, and 

 the general aspect of the plant, make the resemblance to the 

 order Rosacese very striking ; but the flowers are easily distin- 

 guished by the characters already mentioned. The Hellebores 

 were formerly in great repute for their medicinal virtues, espe- 

 cially in the cure of mental derangement. The Black Hellebore 

 of the ancients grew plentifully near Anticyra, a city of Phocis 

 in Greece ; whence arose the proverb, applied to any one who 

 acted in an absurd manner, " Naviget Anticyram," " Let him 

 sail to Anticyra." They are now disused, however, as their 

 purgative properties are so violent, as to render their employ- 

 ment dangerous. The Aquilegia or Columbine, and Delphinium^ 

 or Larkspur, belong to this group ; a species of each genus is a 

 native of Britain; but others with much more showy flowers, 

 obtained from' abroad, are cultivated in our gardens. They are 

 both distinguished by great irregularity in the petals, these 

 having long tubular spurs, of which the small scale at the bot- 

 tom of the petal of the Ranunculus may be considered as the 

 rudiment; and in the latter, the several petals differ inform, 

 two only being spurred ; and one of the sepals of the calyx has 

 a horn, in which the two spurs are hidden. Both these plants 



