species inhabit humid places frequented by that creature, or 

 because some of the plants have leaves resembling in shape a 

 frog's foot. Ranunculus is also sometimes called crowfoot. 

 The Buttercup family. Gaelic: cearban, raggy, from its divided 

 leaves. Gair-cean, Gairghin — from gair, a crow. Welsh : era/range 

 yfran, crows' claws. Manx: spag sfeeach, raven's claw. 



R. aquatilis — Water crowfoot. Gaelic : fleann uisge, probably 

 from leanna, a spear, and uisge, water, Waterspear. Lion na 

 Kaibhne, the river-flax. Irish: neul uisge, — neul, a star. Tuir 

 Ms, — tuir, a lord; chis, purse (from its numerous achenes). This 

 plant generally grows in still water or ponds the flowers forming 

 a beautiful sheet of white on the surface. 



R ficaria — Lesser celandine. Gaelic : grain-aigein, that which 

 produces loathing. Irish : gran arcain ; gran, grain ; arc, a pig. 

 Searraiche (Armstrong), according to O'Reilly, Searraigh. Welsh : 

 toddedig wen, fire dissolvent; toddi, melt, dissolve. This little 

 buttercup, oftener called the "pilewort," is one of our earliest 

 flowers. Its roots are still used as a cure for piles, corns, &c. 



R. flammula — Spearwort. Gaelic : glas-leun — glas, green ; leun, 

 a swamp. Lasair-hana — lasair, a flame, and leana or leun, a 

 swamp, a spear. Welsh: blaer y guaew, lance-point. Manx — 

 lus y binjey, rennet wort. It was one of the plants formerly used 

 for curdling milk. Lus shleig. (In Scotch Gaelic, sleagh, a spear.) 



R. Auricomus — Goldilocks. Gaelic : follasgain ; probably from 

 follais, conspicuous. Irish : foloscain, a tadpole. The Gaelic 

 may be a corruption from the Irish, or vice versd; also gruag 

 Mhuire, Mary's locks. 



R. repens — Creeping crowfoot. Gaelic: buigheag, the yellow 

 one. Irish : bairgin, more frequently bairghin, a pilgrim's habit. 

 Fearban — fearba, killing, destroying. The whole of this family 

 are full of acrid, poisonous juices. 



R. acris — Upright meadow crowfoot. Gaelic : cearban febir, 

 the grass rag. Irish : the same name. This plant and R. flam- 

 mula were used in the Highlands, applied in rags (cearban), for 

 raising blisters, 



R. Bulbosus — Bulbous crowfoot. Gaelic : fuile (sometimes 

 tuile) thalmhuinn, blood of the earth (it exhausts the soil). 



