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CREEPING CROW-FOOT. Ranunculus repens. 



Plate 8, fig. 6. 

 Leaves hairy, three-lobed. Calyx upright. Stem creeping. 



In character quite between that last described and the next, 

 growing in similar places, and flowering at the same time. It 

 differs from the last, only in having the flower stalks furrowed, 

 and the leaflets longer stalked. It differs from the next in its 

 calyx, which is upright, and its root, which is fibrous. It differs 

 from them both in having creeping stems. 



BULBOUS-ROOTED CROW-FOOT. Ranunculus lulbosus. 



BUTTERFLOWER. BUTTERCUP. KlNGCUP. GOLDCUP. 



Plate 8, fig. 7. 

 Leaves hairy, three-lobed. Calyx bent back. Stem upright. 



Root bulbous. Leaves as in the two former. Stem farrowed 

 on the upper part. Calyx bent back, so as to lie close to the 

 stem. Whole plant very hairy, covering whole meadows in May 

 and June with its numerous, yellow, glossy flowers. Such is 

 the Common Buttercup a plant perhaps better known than any 

 other which grows, and which has as many names, and as many 

 stories attached to it as any, and yet it is of no value whatever. 

 It is so poisonous that no animal will eat it, no insect is ever 

 found upon it, and not even the bee comes to it for honey : 



" He breakfasts, dines, and most divinely sups, 

 With every flower, save golden Buttercups ; 

 On whose proud bosoms he will never go, 

 But passes by with scarcely ' How do ye do ? ' 

 Since in their showy, shining, gaudy cells, 

 Haply the Summer's honey never dwells." Clare. 



It is not used even in medicine, and put to no purpose in the 

 arts. Children, however, often pull up the plants for the sake 

 of eating the clubbed root, liking the hot and peppery taste 

 which it has, and not knowing that this flavor is the poi- 

 sonous substance that they should avoid, which is even in still 

 greater abundance in the stems and leaves. The beauty of the 

 blossoms has rendered the Buttercup a favorite plant, and how 

 often do we see whole troops of children loaded with these bright 

 flowers, which they hold under each other's chins, and viewing 



