58 REPRESENTATIVE PLANTS 



study, and it matters not materially which variety is used. 

 They grow in woods and thickets, open damp places, or on 

 dry open knolls and prairies. ^Many species of this family, 

 such as the buttercup, cowslip, windflower, anemone, and 

 hepatica, are the most common and highly prized wild flowers 

 of early spring. All are similar and show the chief charac- 

 teristics of the Crowfoot family in a marked degree. 



Characters of family. Chiefly herbs with divided leaves : 

 four or usually five parted flowers (that is, sepals and 

 petals of that number) ; many stamens ; several or many 

 pistils ; all parts borne on the receptacle ; often apetalous. 



Plant and flowers. Examine as usual the whole plant and 

 observe its peculiarities. Are the leaves divided or not ? 

 How many sepals and petals and what colors are they? 

 Sepals of buttercups often fall away early (fugacious), and 

 the flower then may appear apetalous. Be careful not to 

 make a mistake here. Study the number and arrangement 

 of the stamens and pistils and observe their relation to the 

 receptacle. 



Make the following drawings: (a) stem-bearing leaf and 

 flowers ; (b) a single flower, side and face view ; (c) a 

 stamen and a pistil (m) ; (d) plan of the flower. 



List. Name all the garden flowers you know that belong 

 to this family ; also some medicines made from plants of 

 the same group. 



How many kinds of buttercups or crowfoots do you know ? 

 What reputation has the buttercup among eastern dairy 

 farmers ? What has happened when a buttercup becomes 

 double ? What is a " double " flower, and are any ever 

 found in a wild state ? 



8. POLYPETALOUS ElOWERS OF THE MuSTARD FamILT 



Kinds of and where found. Shepherd^ s-purse, spring cress, 

 mustard, candytuft, or other forms may be used. The spring 

 (white or purple) cresses of moist woodlands and bogs 



