OF GARDENING, 
391 
p lak att. 
ter had Reafon to make it fuch. The Species of 
6 GOLDEN PROLIFEROUS CROWFOOT. 
There is not any among the various and ele- | ture which fwells the Flower to this Bienefs, en- 
gant Effects of Culture that pleafes more than 
the proliferous flowering. It is an Exuberance 
of Nature fo fingular in its Kind, fo agreeable to 
the Eye, and to the Imagination, that the moft 
unaccuftom’d to thefe Studies always fee it with 
Satisfaction and Surprize. We have it in various 
Forms: inthe proliferous Oxlip, one Flower grows 
by its tubular Bafe out of the Body of another, 
and fo it is in the Datura we lately defcribed : 
in the {mall Crowfoot of one of our former Num- 
' bers, there rifes a Stalk from the Centre of the 
double Flower, bearing another : fo it is in this ; 
and fo we fhall reprefent it in a fucceeding Num- 
ber under the Article Anemone. 
. The Student will fee this Crowfoot an ‘Bxube: 
rance of one of the double Kinds, and he will 
find it treated as fuch by fome of the Botanical 
“Writers who firft defcribed it ; they call it Ranun- 
culus Afphodeli radice flore prolifero, but that is an 
uncertain Denomination ; for thofe of other Co- 
lours, and from a different Stock will have’ pro- 
liferous Flowers. 
The original Plant whence Culture raifes this 
is of Afiatick Origin. It is. the Ranunculus Afati- 
cus flore aureo fimplex, of Ferrarius : this, Cul- 
ture doubles, and farther Management of the 
fame Kind, raifes to this Height of Excellence 
and Beauty. . | 
Linn 4s diftinguithes the Species by the Name 
Ranunculus foliis ternatis, biternatifque foliolis tri- 
jides incifis caule inferne ramofo, ternate and alter- 
nate leav’d Crowfoot, with the Divifions all the 
Way in threes, the Segments divided at the 
Edges, and with the Stalk branch’d in the lower 
°Tis a long Name, but this accurate Wri- 
Crowfoot are very numerous, and ‘all the Di- 
{tinction is requifite for afcertaining this. © 
The Root is tuberous and irregular ; form’d_ 
of feveral oblong Pieces, with a few thick Fi- 
bres. : 
The firft Leaves are numerous; they fphead 
varioufly from one Head, fome ereét, and others | 
they are differently divided ac- 
on the Ground ; 
cording to their Growth and Size, but always 
into threes: the Segments are oblong, and notch’d 
at the Edges. - 
The Stalk is a Foot high, round, of a pale 
green, fomewhat hairy, and tolerably firm. ‘There 
are two.or three Leaves upon it divided in the 
fame Manner as thofe from the Root, and lightly 
hairy: their Colour is a pale green, and their 
Subftance tolerably firm. 
_ The Top fupports a very large and elegant 
Flower of the Bignefs of a common Rofe, of a 
bright Gold yellow, and compos’d of almoft in- 
numerable Petals; from the Centre of which 
rifes a flender green Stalk, an Inch and half in 
Length, fupporting on. its Summit a fimaller 
Flower, perfectly refembling the larger, 
The natural Colour is the plain bright yellow 
we have mention’d ; but the fame luxuriant Cul- 
2 
‘know it to be one of the Polyandria. 
fingle nor the very double Sort , 
larges the Number of the Petals, and fad up this 
additional Off-{pring. 
In this State it is therefore a 1 Creature of the 
Gardener’s Induftry ; and we mutt refer the Bo- 
tanical Student, who would trace its Charaéters, 
to the original and fimple Flower : in that he will 
find them, as in the common Crowfoot of our 
Meadows. 
The Petals in that are five; they are broad, 
obtufe, and connected to the Receptacle by narrow 
Bottoms ; and at a little Diftance above this Bot- 
tom, there is in each a fmell Hollow; this 
is the Neétarium’of the Flower. In the Centre 
ftand numerous Filaments, crown’d with oblong 
Buttons, which appear double; and in the Midft 
of this Tuft are numerous very fmall and reflex 
Stigmata; thefe have no Styles, but adhere to fo 
many Rudiments of Seeds. » 
_ The Filaments being numerous, mutt be trac’d 
to their Origin, to find the Clafs of the Plant: 
they are inferted on the Receptacle, and we thence 
The nume- 
rous Stigmata fhew it one of the Polyeynia. 
- Culture of this Ranuncuuus. 
_ So many Accidents muft concur to the Produc- 
tion of this Flower, and many of them fo per- 
fectly unknown to the Gardener, indeed to all 
Men; that he muft not expect to raife the Plant 
By Roots it will encreafe very freely ; and when 
_ they are parted, at the Time of taking them, with 
thofe of other Ranunculi, out of rhe Ground; 
the Produce muft be planted in the ufual Mander. 
and the Flowers will be proliferous. 
This is the certain, and the only certain Method; 
but he who fhall cultivate thefe Flowers in gene- 
ral, according to the Rules we have laid down for - 
producing Varieties from Seed, will not fail feeing 
this among his others. 
If he have this in his Defign, let him remember 
to what Kind we have refer’d it, and how declar’d 
it to be produc’d. Let him fave Seeds from fome 
of the femi-double yellow Kind, not from the 
for the firft will 
probably go no farther than producing double 
Flowers, and the Seeds of the other have not 
their full Strength when they reach ie natural 
Size. 
Therefore let a ‘tok dontile F lower of the plain 
yellow Kind be mark’d for Seed, obferving to ix 
on one that has a good firm Stalk, and is every 
Way of ftrong and vigorous Growth. Let thefe 
be ripen’d with Care; well harden’d; and in _“%qj- 
guft they muft be fown in a Part of the Garden 
open to the Morning Sun. 
Let the Mould be dug out of the Place, and a 
Compoft of three Parts light Pafture Earth, and 
one Part old Cow-dung, be put in its Stead. On 
this fow the. Seeds evenly, and cover them a 
~ Quarter 
4 
4 
