STATISTICS OF THE ORDER RANUNCULACER. 15 
which significations the terms broad, breadth, dilated, etc., are 
generally employed. 
The Germans apply the term Wegetritt to the greater Plan- 
tain, but this modern application cannot explain our ancient 
term Waybrede, which is, as stated above, only a variety of brett, 
or broad. 
On the Statistics of the Order Ranuncutacex: Duration, Perio- 
dicity, Habitats, and Range (horizontal and altitudinal) of the 
British Species. 
The maximum number of species belonging to this Order is 
found in Europe. Dr. Lindley informs us that the European 
species are more than one-fifth of the whole; but this is no very 
great preponderance. The same author in another work states 
that “they are so abundant in all parts of the world, that an 
Order can hardly be found more universally and more equally 
dispersed.” About twenty of the genera belong to Europe, but 
are not exclusively confined to this quarter of the globe. Sixteen 
genera and forty-one species are found in the British Isles. 
They are, with the exception of Clematis, all herbaceous. In 
their duration they are for the most part perennial. Four Ra- 
nunculi, viz. R. hirsutus, R. sceleratus, R. arvensis, and R. parvi- 
florus, ave annuals; Myosurus, Adonis, and Delphinium are also 
of the same duration. Of these three last-mentioned genera the 
British Isles produce only one species of each. 
The periodicity (time of flowering and ripening seeds) of the 
British species extends from January to the latter end of summer, 
or to the beginning of autumn. In gardens and copses, where 
the Winter Aconite (Hranthis hiemalis) grows, we may notice, in 
mild winters, its pretty flowers about the end of January or at 
the beginning of February. It is the companion of the Snow- 
drop, and precedes the Crocus some weeks. The next flower of 
the family is the Pilewort (Ficaria ranunculoides) , a common and 
a genuine British species. There may be some room for doubting 
the claims of the Winter Aconite as of native origin, but of the 
British descent of the Pilewort there is no question. This latter 
usually appears about the end of February and at the beginning 
of March. It has been seen on the 13th February, but it is also 
