42 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
reflexed. Petals with a conspicuous scale over the nectary ; scale 
widest at the top, which is emarginate and as broad as the claw of 
the petal. Head of fruit globular-ovoid. Achenes compressed, 
smooth to the naked eye, conspicuously margined, with a short, 
broad, hooked beak. Receptacle hairy. 
In meadows, pastures and downs. Very common in England and 
the south of Scotland; but not certainly known to occur in the 
latter country north of the Caledonian Canal. This species loves a 
drier situation than the last two, which makes it prefer chalky and 
gravelly soils. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Perennial. Spring and 
Early Summer. 
Root of thickened fibres. Rootstock enlarged into a corm 
resembling that of a Crocus, and varying from the size of a large 
pea to that of a walnut, clothed with the expanded bases of the leaf- 
stalks. Stem 6 to 18 inches high, solitary, or 2 or 3 from the same 
corm, corymbosely branched in the upper portion, so as to form an 
irregular cyme. Leaves very variable in the shape of their segments 
and the depth of their divisions ; but the middle leaflet has a longer 
stalk and the ultimate divisions are more obtuse than in R. repens. 
Flowers often 1 inch or more in diameter, rich yellow in colour, 
paler externally as in the allied species. Sepals pale yellowish, 
hairy without and smooth within, applied to the petals for about 
one-fourth of their length, then suddenly reflexed, their tips in 
contact with the peduncle, which is usually long. Petals broadly 
obovate, with a wedge-shaped base. Achenes lenticular, brown when 
ripe, much compressed, appearing finely granulated under a lens; 
beak much hooked, searcely one-fourth the length of the rest of the 
earpel. Whole plant of a lively green, more or less pilose, the 
hairs adpressed or slightly patent. 
Bulbous-rooted Crowfoot. 
French, Renoncuwle Dulbeuse. German, Der Zwiebelwurzelige Hahnenfuss. 
Also called indiscriminately by the people, Kingceup, Buttercup, Cuckoo-buds, and 
St. Anthony’s Turnip. It is, perhaps, the commonest of the Ranunculus family in our 
fields, and was once supposed to give a yellow tint to butter made from the milk of cows 
which had eaten it. Cows, however, do not eat much of this weed, and it is more 
probable that the rich tint of the butter is caused by the vigorous health of the cattle 
when they have plenty of fresh grass and good pure air. 
The root is the most acrid part of this plant ; for, although the juice of the 
herbage is stimulating and produces sneezing, the root will blister, it is said, as 
certainly and with much less pain than Spanish flies. Pigs are remarkably fond of the 
roots, and will go long distances to get them; they aie said to do them no harm. 
