RANUNCULACE4 



figure," and open, deep yellow cup-shaped flowers, about 

 one inch broad, with five glossy, overlapping petals, 

 holding clusters of yellow stamens at the base. The fact 

 that the petals tend to whiten when fading is due to 

 oxidation. 



RANUNCULACE^E CROWFOOT FAMILY 



Ranunculus bulbosus, L. 



Yellow Bulbous Crowfoot, 



Bulbous Buttercup, 



May- July English Kingcup, 



Frogwort, 

 St. Anthony's Turnip. 



Ranunculus: for derivation see acris. 

 Bulbosus: Greek for a bulbous root. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: roadsides and fields. 



THE PLANT: from a bulbous, thickened base, erect, six 

 inches to eighteen inches high; the stem hairy. 



THE LEAVES: mostly basal; these variously lobed and 

 cleft, the lobes all wedge-shaped, usually three-divided, 

 with the terminal divisions on a long stem, the side 

 divisions stemless or nearly so; toothed. 



THE FLOWERS: about one inch broad, on furrowed stems; 

 petals round, wedge-shaped at the base, much longer than 

 the sepals. 



THE FRUIT: achenes. 



Ranunculus bulbosus is also a characteristically formed 

 buttercup. It is a small plant, growing in dry places 

 (roadsides and fields), from a bulbous base or root. Its 

 leaves are "deep green, decoratively cut and slashed, 

 three-divided, each division three-lobed." The flowers 

 are large, golden or deep yellow and about one inch across. 



From this plant is made a drug, valuable in the treat- 

 ment of neuralgia. 



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