m4 
a die 
The BRUT LS Hy HE Ron pe” 15 
Moufetail. alfo, which though fmall are fomewhat larger thant 
Myofuros. the flower. ‘In the centre ftand feveral threads in 
The root is compofed of a great number of 
whitifh fibres, 
The leaves are very numerous. They rife in 
a thick tuft, and refemble the fhoots of grafs. 
They are three inches long, extremely narrow, 
and fmalleft toward the bottom, for they grow 
fomewhat broader toward the end: they are of 
a freth green, and foft. 
The ftalks are numerous alfo: they rife from 
the centre of the tuft of leaves, and are round, 
flender, naked, and of a pale green. 
_ At the top of each ftandsa fingle fower; which 
is fmall and greenith, compofed of five little pe- 
tals, and ftanding in a cup compofed of five leaves 
Gi ak 
Ny Ue: 
an uncertain number, and on their tops are placed 
oblong buttons. 
When the flower is fallen, the feeds appear 
placed with great regularity ina long and flen- 
der head, the whole refembling the tail of a 
moufe ; whence the plant has been named. 
It.is not uncommon in dry places: about Pad. 
dington we have it in abundance, ; 
It flowers in May. Authors call it Myofurus; 
and Cauda muris. 
The tafte of the whole plant is fiery and acrid 
in this alfo it agrees with the crowfoot kind, 
Its virtues are not known ; but it appears one of 
thofe plants which are not to be given internally. 
XII, 
CROWFOOT, 
Revd iN UNC GE ts) 
He flower confifts of five petals, with a tuft of fhort threads in the centre, and ftands in a cup 
compofed of five leaves : 
the feeds ftand naked, and in roundifh cluftets 
Linneus places this genus among the polyandria polygymia, and fpeaks with great warmth of the 
confufion and uncertainty to. which it was liable, till he difcovered the neétarium of the flower. It 
appears to me, on the contrary, that this, though an ingenious and curious obfervation, is not of 
reat ufe ; that the genus is fafficiently difting without it, and little liable to any other confufion than 
fuch as may arife from learned trifling, t 
The parts of fructification in this genus, Linnaeus obferves, are always inconftant and uncertain : 
He means that the filaments in the middle of the flower are fo. This is not fingular in crowfoot + 
we have juft fhewn it is fo in moufetail, and fhall thew the fame in many othets. 
If any thing is to 
be inferred from this, it is, that thefe, though the foundation of that author’s fyftem, are, upon hig 
own confeffion, unfit for fuch a purpofe. The charaéters we eltablith from the flower in general, 
and the feed, are not fubje to this inconftancy or irregularity ; and therefore they are tore proper. 
~. The nectarium which that author here calls in to the affiftance of his diftinétions, is a little Hollow, 
N fometimes open, fometimes clofed up, in the bottom of every petal of the Aower, 
We fhall fee by this, and numerous other inftances, that a method founded more on the obvious parts 
of plants is lefs liable to uncertainty, and more agreeable to the diftintions made by nature. 
Dev 1S O2Nee I: 
1. Round-rooted Crowfoot. 
Ranunculus radice rotunda. 
The toot is a {mall round head, with fome 
whitith fibres. Its colour is whitifh or redith, 
and its tafte infufferably acrid. 
The leaves that rife from the root ate large, 
broad, and divided into three parts, each of which 
is again deeply notched: they ftand on long 
footftalks, and are of a pale green. 
The ftalks are round, upright, and branched. 
The leaves that grow on thefe are {mall and 
divided into a few deep fegments. ‘ 
‘The flowers are large, and of a beautiful yel- 
tow. They are compofed cach of five rounded 
petals, and have a tuft of threads in the centre. 
The feeds ftand naked in a {mall head. 
It is common in our paftures, and flowers in 
May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Ranunculus pratenfis radice 
verticilli modo rotunda. J. Bauhine, Ranunculus 
tuberofus major, 
2. Common creeping Crowfoot. 
Renunculus pratenfis repens tulgaris. 
The root is compofed of a great tuft of whitifh 
fibres Hanging from a very {mall head. 
BRITISH SPECIES. 
The leaves that rife from it are large, deeply 
divided at the edges, and often fpotted. Each 
is compofed as it were of three diftin& parts. 
The colour is a dead green, and they aré fome- 
what hairy: they ftand on long hollowed foot- 
ftalks, 
The ftalks are Mender and weak: fome run 
upon the ground, ahd take toot at the joints ; 
others are more ereét, and fupport thé flowers, 
The leaves on thefe are fmall, and deeply di- 
vided. ‘ é 
The flowers are large and yellow. 
The feeds follow in naked heads. ' 
Tt is common in meadows, and flowérs in 
May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Ranunctlus pratenfis repens 
birfutus. 
3. Pale-leaved Crowfoot. 
Ranunculus foliis pallidioribus birfutis. 
The root is compofed of fibres. 
The leaves ftand on long hollow footftalks, 
and are divided into three parts, and each deeply 
indented : they are large, hairy, and of a pale 
green. 
The ftalk is two feet high, upright, firrn, and 
3 of 
