m 



The Natural System of Botany. 113 



mediate between the true leaves and the leafy parts of the 

 fl vver being sometimes lobed like the leaves, and sometimes 

 • j e like the sepals. The netted, branching arrangement of 

 the veins of the leaves, at once indicates that the Ranunculus is 

 Exoo-en, and that its embryo, as we have already dis- 

 covered, has two cotyledons. 



The characters thus indicated, are those by which the Order 

 Ranunculaceae is distinguished from all others. The greater part 

 of these characters are, to be sure, presented by many different 

 plants, and on the other hand are not all presented by every mem- 

 ber of this order. Some Ranunculaceae have three or six sepals in 

 their calyx, instead of five, and the petals of others are sometimes 

 more than five, and sometimes wanting altogether. The number 

 of stamens is indefinite ; that of the styles is also variable, since 

 the styles of all the carpels may unite into a single one, or may 

 remain, as in the Ranunculus, entirely distinct. What then 

 are the essential characters which distinguish all the plants of 

 this order from all others ? These essential characters are 

 simply* 1st, a great many stamens which arise from beneath 

 the carpels, such stamens being hypogynous, as in Fig. 1. a ; 

 and 2d, several carpels which are not joined together, but 

 are separate and distinct. It is thus obvious, that in order to 

 ascertain whether a plant belongs to the Crowfoot tribe, it is 

 not necessary to pay attention to all its different parts, but a 

 decision is at once made by ascertaining the presence or 

 absence of these two very easily determined characters. The 

 structure of the other parts of the flower may not be conforma- 

 ble to that of the Ranunculus ; and it is by minor variations 

 that the genera of the order are limited. A mistake may 

 sometimes be made, on account of the general resemblance of 

 some of the flowers of this order, to those of Rosaceae, the Rose 

 Tribe. It will be readily observed, however, that the stamens 

 of the latter do not arise at once from the receptacle, but 

 adhere to the calyx, or are perigynous. 



All the plants which agree in the characters essential to 

 Ranunculaceae, also agree in their properties ; their juice being 

 watery, acrid, and nauseous; that of several species raising a 

 blister on the skin, and being poisonous if taken into the stom- 

 ach. Some of them have a narcotic principle, on account of 



