18 THE LADIES' FLOWER-GARDEN 
A. VIRGINIANA Lin.; A. HIRSUTA Manch. 
Flowers pale green or purplish ; carpels woolly, collected into an oblong head. A native of Virginia. 
Introduced in 1722. 
A. HUDSONIANA Rich. ,- A. MULTIFIDA Hook. 
A native of North America, near Hudson's Bay. The leaves are so much cut as to look like fringe, and the 
flowers vary in colour from white to purple and bright crimson. Introduced in 1826. 
A. PENNSYLVANICA Lin.; A. DICHOTOMA Lin. 
Flowers large, white; anthers golden yellow. Introduced in 1766. A native of North America and 
<ilso of Siberia. 
GENUS VIII. 
RANUNCULUS C. Bauh. THE RANUNCULUS, OR CROWFOOT. 
ending in a point or liorn, "which is scarcely ever longer than the seed ; 
smooth, striated, or tubercled, disposed into globose or cylindrical 
heads. (G. Don.) 
Lin. Syst. POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA 
Generic Character. — Calyx of five deciduous sepals, which are 
not loosened at the base. Petals five, rarely eight or ten, furnished 
with a nectariferous scale on the inside at the base. Stamens 
numerous, Cariopsides numerous, ovate, somewhat compressed, 
Desckiption, &c. — The plants belonging to this genus are generally found in moist places ; and hence they 
are called Ranunculus from Eana, a frog. They take their English name of Crowfoot from the shape of the 
leaves, which are deeply cut, so as to resemble the foot of a bird. Many of the species are English weeds ; and 
those that are, may be considered to be among the most beautiful of the British wdld flowers. All the species are 
poisonous from their acridity, but some are more so than others. Nearly all the species have either yellow 
flowers or white flowers, and all have a distinct green calyx of five sepals, united at the base. Tlie flowers, 
when single, consist of five petals, numerous stamens, and numerous carpels, each of which has a little beaked 
stigma, without any style. The carpels are placed on the receptacle, which is drawn up into a cone-like form, 
to receive them ; and, when the petals fall, they appear in a globose head, as may be seen in the common 
buttercup (Ranunculus acris) and other species. In the double flowers, the stamens and carpels are entirely or 
partially changed into petals. Tlie leaves are generally deeply cut ; and the petiole, or footstalk, always partially 
sheaths the stem. The seeds of all the kinds keep well, but they are a long time after they are put in the 
ground before they germinate, and all the species like a strong loamy soil. 
1.— RANUNCULUS ASIATICUS Lin. THE ASIATIC OR GARDEN RANUNCULUS. 
Engravings. — Our^s. 1, 2, 3, in Plate 6. 
Specific Character. — Leaves ternate, or bitoraate ; segments 
toothed or deeply trifid. Stem erect, simple, or brauched at the base. 
Calyx spreading, afterwards reflexed. Spikes of carpels cylindrical. 
(G. Don.) 
Description, &c. — The great beauty and variety of these flowers have rendered them favourite garden 
flowers for nearly three centuries, and perhaps longer ; for they appear to have been common in Britain before 
1696, though they are natives of the Levant. There are now a great number of named varieties and snb- varieties 
