Yellow and Orange 



why the commentators incline to identify Shakespeare's Mary- 

 buds with the Caltha of these and our own marshes. 



Not for poet's rhapsodies, but for the more welcome hum of 

 small bees and flies intent on breakfasting do these flowers open 

 in the morning sunshine. Nectar secreted on the sides of each 

 of the many carpels invites a conscientious bee all around the 

 centre, on which she should alight to truly benefit her entertainer. 

 Honey bees may be seen sucking only enough nectar to aid them 

 in storing pollen ; bumblebees feasting for their own benefit, not 

 their descendants' ; little mining bees and quantities of flies also, 

 although not many species are represented among the visitors, 

 owing to the flower's early blooming season. Always conspicu- 

 ous among the throng are the brilliant Syrphidae flies — gorgeous 

 little creatures which show a fondness for blossoms as gaily col- 

 ored as their own lustrous bodies. Indeed, these are the principal 

 pollinators. 



Some country people who boil the young plants declare these 

 "greens" are as good as spinach. What sacrilege to reduce 

 crisp, glossy, beautiful leaves like these to a slimy mess in a pot! 

 The tender buds, often used in white sauce as a substitute for 

 capers, probably do not give it the same piquancy where piquancy 

 is surely most needed — on boiled mutton, said to be Queen Vic- 

 toria's favorite dish. Hawked about the streets in tight bunches, 

 the marsh-marigold blossoms — with half their yellow sepals 

 already dropped — and the fragrant, pearly-pink arbutus are the 

 most familiar spring wild flowers seen in Eastern cities. 



Common Meadow Buttercup; Tall Crowfoot; 

 Kingcups; Cuckoo Flower; Goldcups ; 

 Butter-flowers; Blister-flowers 



{Ranunculus acris) Crowfoot family 



Flowers — Bright, shining yellow, about i in. across, numerous, 

 terminating long slender footstalks. Calyx of s spreading 

 sepals ; corolla of 5 petals ; yellow stamens and carpels. 

 Stem: Erect, branched above, hairy (sometimes nearly 

 smooth), 2 to 3 feet tall, from fibrous roots. Leaves : In a 

 tuft from the base, long petioled, of 3 to 7 divisions cleft into 

 numerous lobes ; stem leaves nearly sessile, distant, 3-parted. 



Preferred Habitat— }Ae?Ldov^s,, fields, roadsides, grassy places. 



Flowering Season — May — September. 



Distribution — Naturalized from Europe in Canada and the United 

 States ; most common North. 



What youngster has not held these shining golden flowers 

 under his chin to test his fondness for butter ? Dandelions and 



292 



