The BRITISH HERBAL. 
Moiifetail. 
Myofuros. 
The root Is compofed of a great number of 
■whitifli fibres. 
The leaves are very numerous. They rife in 
a thick tuft, and refemble the fhoots of grafs. 
They are three inches long, extremely narrow, 
and fmalleil toward the bottom, for they grow 
fomewhac broader toward the end ; they are of 
a fredi green, and foft. 
The ftalks are numerous alfo : they rife from 
the centre of the tuft of leaves, and are round, 
flender, naked, and of a pale green. 
At the top of each flandsa fingle flower; which 
is fmall and greenifii, compofed of five little pe- 
tals, and ftanding in a cup compofed of five leaves 
alfo, which though fmall are fomewhat larger than 
the flower. 'In the centre ftand feveral threads in 
an uncertain number, and on their tops are placed 
oblong buttons. 
When the flower is fallen, the feeds appear 
placed with great regularity in a long and flen- 
der head, the whole refembling tlie tail of a 
moufe i whence the plant has been named. 
It is not uncommon in dry places : about Pad- 
dington we have it in abundance. 
It flowers in May. Authors call it MyofurtiSi 
and Cauda miiris. 
The tafte of the whole plant is fiery and acrid : 
in this alfo it agrees with the crowfoot kind. 
Its virtues are not known ; but it appears one of 
tliofe plants which are not to be given internally. 
GENUS xir. 
CROWFOOT. 
RANUNCULUS. 
'T^HE flower confifts of five petals, with a tuft of fliort threads in the centre, and ftands in a cup 
compofed of five leaves : the feeds ftand naked, and in roundifh clufters. 
Linnsus places this genus among the pohandria pdygynia^ and fpcaks with great warmth of the 
confufion and uncertainty to which it was liable, till he difo.'Vered the nedarium of the flower. It 
appears to me, on the contrary, that this, though an ingenious and curious obfervation, is not of 
great ufe ■, that the genus is fufficiently diftind without it, and little liable to any other confufion than 
fuch as may arife from learned trifling. 
The parts of fruclification in this genus, Linnseus obferves, are always inconfl;ant and uncertain : 
He means that the filaments in the middle of the flower are fo. This is not Angular in crowfoot * 
we have juft ihewn it is fo in moufetail, and fliall fhew the fame in many others. If any thing is to 
be inferred from this, it is, that thefe, though the foundation of that author's fyftem, are, upon his 
own confeflion, unfit for fuch a purpofe. l"he charafters we eftablifh from the flower in general, 
and the feed, are not fubjecl to this inconfl:ancy or irregularity ; and therefore they are more proper. 
The neftarium which that author here calls in to the afTirtance of his diftinftions, is a little Hollow, 
■fometimes open, fometimes clofed up, in the bottom of every petal oi: the flower. 
We fliall fee by this, and numerous other infliances, that a method founded more on the obvious parts 
of plants is Icfs liable to uncertainty, and more agreeable to the diftindions made by nature. 
DIVISION 1. BRITISH SPECIES. 
I, Round- rooted Crowfoot. 
Ra-iiuuculus radice rotunda. 
The root is a fmal! round head, with fomc 
v/nitifli fibres. Its colour is whitifh or redilh, 
and its tafte infufFerably acrid. 
The leaves that rife from the root are large, 
broad, and divided into three parts, each of which 
is again deeply notched : they ftand on long 
footftaiks, and are of a pale green. 
The ftalks are round, upright, and branched. 
The leaves that grow on thefe are fmall and 
divided into a few deep fegments. 
The flowers are large, and of a beautiful yel- 
low. They are compofed each of five rounded 
petals, and have a tuft of threads in the centre. 
The feeds ftand naked in a fmall head. 
It is common in our pafl:ures, and fiov/ers in 
May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Ranunculus p-atenf.s radice 
I'erticilli modo rolunda. J, Bauhine, Ranunculus 
iuherojus majcr. 
2. Common creeping Crowfoot. 
Ranunculus fratenfis repens lulgaris. 
The root is compofed of a great tuft of whitifli 
fibres hanging from a very fmall head. 
The leaves that rife from it are large, deeply- 
divided at the edges, and often fpotted. Each 
is compofed as it were of three diftindt parts. 
The colour is a dead green, and they are fome- 
what hairy : they ftand on ,long hollowed foot- 
ftaiks. 
The ftalks are flender and weak : fome run 
upon the ground, and take root at the joints j 
others are more ereft, and fupport the flowers. 
The leaves on thefe are fmall, and deeply di- 
vided. 
The flowers are large and yellow. 
The feeds follow in naked heads. 
It is common in meadows, and flowers in 
May. 
C. Bauhine calls it Ranunculus pratenfis repens 
hirfittus. 
3. Pale-leaved Crowfoot. 
Ranunculus foliis pallidloribus hirfutis. 
The root is compofed of fibres. 
The leaves ftand on long hollow footftaiks, 
and arc divided into three parts, and each deeply 
indented : they are large, hairy, and of a pale 
green. 
The ftalk is two feet higli, upright, firmj and 
3 of 
