RANUNCULUS. 



f lower: white, three-quarters of an inch in diameter, not 

 vecy ornamental in their iingle wild itjte, but much udmired 

 when double, and formerly called Fair Maids of France. 

 Their pearly whitcnefs is enhanced by the violet calyx. 



28. R. platanifoitus. Plane-tree-leaved White Crowfoot. 

 Linn. Mant. 79. Willd.n.22. Ait. n. 17. Fl. Dan. t. 1 1 1. 

 (R. albus, flore fimplici ; Lob. Ic. 668. R. alpinus albus; 

 Ger. Em. 951.) — Leaves veiny, fmoolh, deeply palmate, 

 five-lobed, cut and toothed ; the middle ones three-cleft : 

 floral leaves fcflile, fingered, linear-awlfhaped, entire. Stem 

 branched, many flowered.— Native of the Alps of Germany, 

 Norway, Switzerland, Italy, and of the Pyrenees, in ftiady 

 places. Said to have been introduced into the Enghlii 

 gardens in 1769, by MefTrs. Kennedy and Lee. This is 

 very diftinft from the lad, with which Linnseus originally 

 confounded it. The leaves are larger, not divided quite to 

 the bafe, though their lobes are more cut and jagged : the 

 floral ones are remarkably long, flender, and entire. Flowers 

 twice as large, and rather more abundant. The radical 

 leaves of both have occafionally feven or nine lobes, inllead 

 of five. 



29. R. fpicutus. Spike-fruited Crowfoot. Desfont. 

 Atlant. V. 1.438. t. 115. Willd. n. 23. — Leaves radical, 

 five-lobed, toothed. Stem nearly Ample, hairy. Fruit cy- 

 lindrical, thrice as long as the calyx. — Gathered by Dcsfon- 

 taines in marflies at Algiers. Root perennial, of numerous, 

 oblong, flefliy, tapering knobs. Stem folitary, ereft, a 

 fpan high, hairy, fimple, except at the top, where it divides 

 into two or three fimple fingle -flowered ftalks ; fometimes 

 accompanied by a few bradeas, in three or four deep linear 

 fegments ; fometimes naked. Leaves all radical, on hairy 

 fl;alks, heart- (hapcd, rounded, five-lobed, llrongly toothed, 

 villous, about an inch and a half broad. Calyx of five 

 ovate-oblong, coloured, hairy, fpreadiug leaves. Petals 

 five, obovate, yellow, the fize of R. acris. Fruit cylin- 

 drical, flender, an inch and a half or two inches long. Seeds 

 very numerous, ovate, comprefled, bordered each with a 

 hooked, prominent beak. 



30. R. paludofus. Marfh Crowfoot. Poiret Voy. en 

 Barb. V. 2. 184. Lamarck n. 22. Desfont. Atlant. v. i. 

 439. — " Downy. Lower leaves in three deep, many-cleft, 

 fan-fhaped fegments ; upper fimple, linear, entire. Stem 

 branched, many- flowered. Calyx ereft." — Gathered by 

 Poiret, in the borders of cxteniive marfhes, near la Calle, 

 and in fome other parts of Barbary. Root fibrous, 

 denfely fafciculated. Herb downy, with (hort, clofe-pi-elled 

 hairs. Stems feveral, eight or ten inches high, with fpread- 

 ing leafy branches, bearing abundance of widely-fpreading, 

 deep-yellow _/?0TOfrj-, the fize of the foregoing, on flender 

 ftalks of various lengths. Radical leaves italked ; the 

 earliell ones ovate, undivided, deeply toothed ; the reil almoft 

 pinnate, with three long, narrow, deeply cut, fan-fliaped 

 fegments ; thofe on the lower part of the ftem lefs com- 

 pound : the uppermoft linear, undivided, acute, entire. 

 Fruit oval, or almoft elliptical, obtufe. Seeds oblong, fmooth, 

 comprcfted, fcarcely pointed. 



31. K. illyricus. lUyrian Silky Crowfoot. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 776. Willd. n. 24. Ait. n. 18. Jacq. Auftr. t. 222. 

 Ger. Dod. Pempt. 428. Em. 953. (R. grumofa radice 

 quartus ; Cluf. Hift.v. i. 240.) — Leaves ftiaggy with filky 

 hairs, linear-lanceolate, ternate, entire. Calyx filky, re- 

 flexed. Stem branched. Flowcr-ftalks woolly. — Native 

 of Hungary, France, Italy, Auftria, Thrace, and of the 

 Swedifli ifle of Oeland ; cultivated here in Gerarde's time. 

 Clufius received his fpecimens, from a phyfician of Ferrara, 

 with the name of R, illyricus, which has been retained, ab- 

 juf dly enough, for » plant found in fo many different countries. 



and for which fo many expreffive appellations might eafilj 

 have been contrived. The root is perennial, compofed of 

 numerous, fmall, round granulations. W hole herb more en 

 lefs clothed with fnow-white, filky, or partly cottony, down. 

 Stem a foot high, or more, fomewhat branched, bearing 

 feveral bright lemon-coloured _^</wc/-j, nearly the fize of R. 

 Lingua, their calyx-leaves ovate, reflexed, externally filky. 

 Leaves all linear-lanceolate, entire, feldom divided; the radical 

 ones on long ftalks, ternate or pinnate ; thofe about the middle 

 of the ftem ternate, almoft feflile ; upper ones fimple : the 



ulual length of each leaf or leaflet is two or three inches 



Dodonaeus takes this for the fecond Raifx^iot, or Ranunculus, 

 of Diofcorideb, with whofe delcription it in fome meafure 

 accords. That fpecies is faid to be extremely acrid. Hence 

 Dodonaeus, who is copied by Gerarde, fuppofes our plant 

 may be the Gelotophyllis of Pliny, which caufed thofe who 

 took it to dye laughing. But this opinion depends on too 

 many conjectures to deferve attention ; even if any benefit 

 could accrue from afcertaining the point. We muft obferve 

 however that Dr. Sibthorp thought the above Ranunculus 

 of Diofcorides to be our lanuginojus, which is a common 

 Greek plant, and anfwers better to his defcription. 



32. K.Jlabellatus. Fan-leaved Crowfoot. Desfont. 

 Atlant. v. I. 438. t. 114. Willd. n. 25. Sm. Fl. Graec. 

 Sibth. t. 520, unpublifhed. (R. alter faxatifis, afphodeli 

 radice ; Column. Ecphr. 312. t. 313.) — Radical leaves un- 

 divided or twice ternate, toothed or deeply cut, ftalked ; 

 upper ones ternate or fimple. Stem hairy, fimple below, 

 few-flowered. Fruit elliptical. — Found by Desfontaines, 

 near Algiers, on moift uncultivated hills, flowering in 

 winter : by Sibthorp on the northern mountains of Greece. 

 Root perennial, of many oblong, tapering, cluftered fibres, 

 rather than knebs. Stem a Ipan high, hairy, fomewhat 

 divided above, and bearing two or three yeYio-w Jloivers, the 

 fize of our common R. bulbofus, accompanied by deeply 

 two or three-cleft bradeas. Leaves chiefly radical, on longifti 

 ftalks; feveral of the earlieft undivided, fan-ftiaped, ftrongly 

 toothed ; the reft deeply three-cleft, and fubdivided. 



33. ^. ajiaticus. Perfian Crowfoot, or common Garden 

 Ranunculus. Linn. Sp. PI. 777. Willd. n. 26. Ait. 

 n. 19. Mill. let. 216. Sm. Fl. Grace. Sibth. t. 518, 

 luipubhflied. ( R. aiiaticus, grumofa radice ; Cluf. Hift. 

 v. 1. 240 — 243. Ranunculi varii ; Ger. Em. 958 — 960. 

 }lx,-f%x^i'-' ; Diofc. book 2. chap. 206.) — Leaves once or 

 twice ternate ; leaflets three -cleft, cut. Stem hairy, 

 branched. Petals thrice as long as the calyx. Fruit cylindri- 

 cal. — Found by Dr. Sibthorp wild in various parts of Afia 

 Minor, but moll plentifully in the ifle of Cyprus, where it 

 flill retains one of its ancient naines, mentioned by Diofco- 

 rides, «■) |.-io-a-f'Xivov, or Wild Parfley. In the gardens of Eu- 

 rope it has been cultivated, ever fince the latter part of the 

 fixteenth century, under the form of innumerable varieties, 

 chiefly double, of every vaiiegated hue. In a wild and 

 fingle ftate the large and fplendid^Wj are of a moft vivid 

 crimfon, occafionaUy varying to yellow. The root is pe- 

 rennial, of numerous, brown, flefliy, tapering knobs. Stem 

 twelve or fifteen inches high, ereft, round, downy, hoary, 

 leafy, branched from the middle or lower part, and bearing 

 from three to five large \ong-&d\^eA Jloiuers, whofe calyx is 

 brown, hairy, and reflexed, but one-third the length of the 

 broad, obovate, concave petals. Leaves rather hairy, moftly 

 ftalked, varioufly three-cleft and notched, more or lefs com- 

 pound ; the floral ones, as ufual, narrower and moft 

 fimple., Fruit cylindrical. Seeds oblong, with recurved 

 points. 



34. K.japonicus. Japan Crowfoot or Ranttnculus. 

 Thunb. Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. 2. 337. WiJld, n. 27. (R. 



aiiaticus.; 



