28 PLANTS: THEIR NATURAL GROWTH 



an analysis of this one tribe of plants, but we must now leave all further consideration of them, and, 

 in conclusion, briefly refer to the colours of the various flowers. The great majority are deep 

 yellow, as in the Broom or Furze ; or white, as in the Trifolium repefts, the Dutch Clover ; but 

 in some species — ex. Lathyrus latif alius (fig. i68) — they are pink; in others crimson — ex. L. 

 Tuberosus, the Tuberous Bitter Vetch ; in some lilac — ex. Medicago sativa, the Lucerne ; or 

 purple---ex. Astralagus hypoglottis, the Purple Mountain Milk Vetch. In Vicia lutea the flowers 

 are of a pale yellow^ All the pea flowers belong to the natural order Leguminosos, an order 

 that, with the exception of the Compositce, contains more British plants than any other. All the 

 British genera are papilionaceous, a term applied to the form of their flowers, as seen in figs. 99, 

 128, 167, 168, from a supposed resemblance to a butterfly (Lat. papilio), with expanded wings, a 

 resemblance more fanciful perhaps than obvious. 



PLATE IB. 



God first planted a garden> and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures. — Bacon : Essay on Gardens, 



The Ranunculus bulbosus, or Bulbous Crowfoot, is one of our commonest species of 

 Crowfoots, or Buttercups, as they are often termed, and from being the plant that ordinarily in the 

 Spring covers the meadows with its brilliant flowers, and transforms them for a time into a mass 

 of golden yellow, must be familiar to even those who commonly are but little observant. The 

 individual plant is no less beautiful, and amply repays a closer attention. The designer will find 

 in it rich store of material, the flowers being large and good in form, the leaves having great 

 richness and variety of contour, and the general growth of the plant free and flowing in its lines, 

 while the swelling expansion at the base of the stem, and the radiating fibrous roots beneath it, 

 form an admirable terminal form. In rich soils the flowers are occasionally double ; it will be 

 seen that one of the flowers in fig. 132 is of this character, the others on the same plant being of 

 normal form. Front and back veins of the normal arrangement of parts — i.e., five petals and five 

 sepals, are shown in figs. 134 and 135 : while, in figs. 133, 139, the plan and side views are given 

 of a flower having a greater number of petals, the sepals being generally, even when the petals 

 are very numerous, only five in number. The R. bulbosus is one of the favourite plants of the 

 carvers of the 14th century gothic, and examples of its introduction into their ornament are very 

 numerous — so numerous that we need scarcely pause to enumerate any special instances, as any 

 of our finer remains of that period, such as Lincoln or Southwell, will afford illustrations. The 

 species of Ranunculus are somewhat numerous, and many of them possess features that render 

 them of value to the art student ; thus the R. aquatilis, or Water Crowfoot, a plant very commonly 

 to be met with in ponds and streams, has large white flowers, and two very distinct forms of 

 leaves — the upper ones rich in form, and floating on the surface : the lower ones submerged, and 

 deeply cut into fine linear segments, a feature of the greatest value ornamentally. The R. lingua, 

 or Spearwort, is another plant of great utility to the designer, its stems being erect, and two to 

 three feet high : the leaves long and simple in outline : the flowers very large. We need not 

 further particularise the remaining species ; but the designer will do well to consult any good 

 illustrated work for R. Ficaria (see fig. 315, in present work), R. acris, R. repens, and R. 

 parviflorus — as all these possess valuable features at the service of the designer. The R. 

 arvensis, or Corn Crowfoot, another good species, forms the subject of plate XXV. The 

 brilliant Garden Ranunculus is a species from the Levant; it is known botanically as the R. 

 Asiaticus. The name Buttercup clearly arises from a belief very prevalent in country districts 

 that the rich yellow of the Spring butter is caused by the presence of these plants in the herbage ; 

 so far is this, however, from being the case, that cattle scrupulously avoid them on account of their 

 acrid nature. The name Crowfoot can as clearly be traced to the fancied resemblance between 

 the leaves— see figs. 137, 138 — and the feet of a bird. From the extreme commonness of the 

 .present plant it naturally bears many names in various parts of the country, as, for instance, Frog's- 

 foot. Gold-knobs, Gold-cup, Baffiner, Bassinet, Troil-flower, Butter-flower, and Polt. Some of these 

 names have a significance too obvious to need any attempt at explanation, while others, we con- 

 fess, are too recondite to permit us to render it. Goldknob is a not inexpressive name when we 

 see the opening buds, while Goldcup is no less expressive when the flowers are fully expanded. 

 Baffiner, inexplicable in itself, is possibly a corruption of Bassinet, as such names undergo strange- 

 mutations amongst those who do not comprehend their import Bassinet is derived from the 

 French word bassinet, a small basin or skull cap, in allusion to the shape of the fully open blossom. 

 Troil-flower is derived from the old German word trol, a globe or ball. 



