PAXTON'S FLOWER GARDEN. 



Ill 



Ranunculus STICA- 

 Ti)3. IJesfoniahies. {alias Ra- 

 nunculus Olyssiponensis Per- 

 soon.) A yellow-flowered hardy 

 perennial, with the aspect of a 

 common meadow Crowfoot. 

 Native of Algiers. Flowers in April. 



Ill the too great admiration of tropical 

 botany, the hardy herbaceous plants of cooler 

 regions are often lost sight of. The present 

 Ranunculus has a place probably in few gar- 

 dens, yet would prove an ornament to any, 

 with its large showy and peculiarly glossy 

 bright flowers, which moreover appear as 

 early as April. It was first detected and 

 described by Desfontaines as a native of 

 Algiers, where it appears to be very common 

 on the hills. We possess specimens also from 

 Gibraltar, gathered by our friend Dr.Lemami. 

 Like other species of Crowfoot, it is liable to 

 vary in size and in the outline of its leaves : 

 but our figure well represents the ordinary 

 appearance of the species. The specific name 

 is best understood at a later period, when the 

 receptacle of capsules runs out in a long 

 cylindrical spike. Root grumose, consisting 

 of a dense cluster of fusiform fleshy fibres or 

 tubers mixed with many capillary roots. Stem 

 a foot or more high (less in its wild state), 

 hirsute with short spreading soft hairs. Leaves 

 more or less hairy : the lower ones on long 



