NATIVE VARIETIES OB^ RANUNCULUS 109 



A small stalk growing out of the ovary is known as the 

 stigma, the top of which is covered with a sticky substance 

 which retains the pollen with which it has been dusted 

 by the wings, legs, and bodies of those insects which visit the 

 flower in search of honey. This section of the stigma contributes 

 to the pi'oper fertilisation of the flower ; and the ovaries when 

 ripe burst, scattering the seeds of future plants, the whole 

 operation furnishing an illustration of the care bestowed by 

 Nature upon her progeny in providing so elaborately for the 

 needs of such a common flower as the Buttercup. 



The Rammculus order is very widely distributed throughout 

 the whole world. Seven varieties are native to the district round 

 Jedburgh, namely, R. repens, or creeping Crowfoot ; R. hulbosus, 

 or bulbous Crowfoot ; R. acris, or upright Buttercup ; R. Limjua, 

 or great Spearwort ; R. sceleratus, or Celery-leaved Crowfoot ; 

 R. Jlammula, or lesser Spearwort ; and R. aquatilis, or Water 

 Crowfoot. With the exception of the last named they are 

 all poisonous, R. repens least so, R. acris extremely acrid and 

 dangerous, and R. sceleratus yielding one of the most virulent 

 of our native poisons. R. aquatilis diifers much from all its 

 relatives. Growing in water, the submerged leaves are deeply 

 cleft into hair-like segments. The upper floating leaves are 

 kidney-shaped, lobed and cut, and the small white flowers rise 

 above the surface of the water. This is a rare plant in this 

 district. I know of only one place where it occurs. 



A characteristic feature of this family is the division of 

 their parts into Jive- — five sepals, five petals, while the stamens 

 usually number a multiple of Jive — ten, fifteen, or twenty ; but 

 I have found many specimens which contravene this exact 

 numerical division. During the summer I plucked a Buttercup 

 with three distinct heads joined in one on a single stalk, 

 having twenty-one petals but no sepals, and with an immense 

 number of stamens. Again, in a field near the King of the 

 Wood I gathered one with two heads joined in one, with 

 sixteen petals and five sepals, and several with ten, eight, 

 and six petals, all having five sepals. And to show that 

 this divergence from the standard number is not confined to 

 a particular district, on the road leading from the coalpits 

 to Scremerston Railway Station, I pulled a particularly fine 



