PHANEKOGAMIA 



513 



Poisonous. — The whole family is extraordinarily rich in toxic principles, 

 which are so abundant in many species as to render them dangerously poison- 

 ous. The following may be cited as the most poisonous plants of the Ranun- 

 culaceae. 



Fig. 469.— Ranunculus sceleratus (J nat. size.; 

 Poisonous. 



Fig. 470. — Anemone Pulsatilla (£ nat. size.)- 

 Poisonous. 



All the species of Aconitum, in particular A. Napellus and A. Lycodonum. 

 The former (Fig. 468) is a perennial plant with tubers, one of which dies in the 

 autumn, while the other, as in the Orchidaceae, gives rise to a new plant in the 

 succeeding spring. The leaves are palmately divided, dark green on the upper surface, 



