BUTTERCUP FAMILY 3 
have an acrid juice which irritates the skin and is poisonous if taken 
internally. They make very attractive garden plants, though the native 
species are little cultivated as yet. 
ALPINE CLEMATIS (CLEMATIS ALPINA 
Plate 3, fig. 2 
The Alpine Clematis differs from the cultivated species in climbing 
but rarely. The plants are usually but a few inches high and bear very 
ornamental lavender or purple-blue flowers. Under favorable condi- 
tions they may clamber over shrubs for a few feet. They are found in 
open forest and woodland at 7000-10000 ft. The flowers open in spring 
and early summer and are visited by insects for the plentiful pollen, 
though they contain no honey. Like the cultivated species, the seed- 
like fruits have long feathery styles which form silvery clusters. 
ALPINE BUTTERCUP RANUNCULUS MACAULEYI 
Plate 3, fig. 6 
The Alpine Buttercup has bright yellow, cup-like flowers that fit 
our ideas of a buttercup much better than do those of the Trail- 
ing Buttercup described below. It is more rarely found, since it grows 
only on alpine peaks at 10000-14000 ft. It prefers wet places among 
the rocks and near snow-banks and blooms in midsummer. Many 
species of buttercup possess a more or less acrid juice. For this 
reason, they are little eaten by cattle and hence the notion that the 
deep color of butter in early spring is due to the buttercup is, of course, 
without foundation. 
TRAILING BUTTERCUP RANUNCULUS CYMBALARIA 
Plate 3, fig. 3 
The flowers of this little trailing plant are lemon-yellow, and rath- 
er inconspicuous, blooming from June throughout the summer. The 
