CALTHA 
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I. CALTHA PALUSTRIS. Marsh Marigold. Plates ioo, ioi, 102, 103 
C. palnstris major Gerard Herball 670(1597) incl. C. palustris minor ; C. palustris vulgaris simplex Parkinson 
Theatr. Bot. 1213 (1640) incl. C. flore pleno\ Populago Ray Syn. ed. 3, 272 (1724). 
Caltha palustris L. Sp. PI. 558 (1753)!; Smith Eng. Bot. no. 506 (1798)!; FI. Brit. 599 (1800); Syme 
Eng. Bot. i, 50 (1863) ; Rouy et Foucaud FI. France i, 113 (1893); C. major Miller Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 1 (1768) 
incl. C. minor no. 2. 
Perennial geophyte. Stem hollow. Leaves simple, petioled ; petioles long, stipuloid at the base ; 
laminae cordiform or reniform, more or less cordate at the base, margin serrate or crenate, apex 
very obtuse. Inflorescence few-flowered, cymose. Peduncles hollow. Pedicels strongly grooved, 
hollow. Flowers from about 1 — 6 cm. in diameter; March to May and sometimes a second crop 
in autumn. Perianth petaloid, greenish outside, deep yellow inside, segments 5 — 6. Stamens 00 . 
Carpels 00 , sessile, free. Follicles usually more or less arched or falcate. Seeds in 2 rows, 00 ; 
testa hard ; chalaza and raphe conspicuous. 
(a) C. palustris var. vulgaris Rouy et Foucaud op. cit., emena ; C. major Miller Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 1 
(1768) incl. C. minor no. 2 ; C. palustris var. major DC. Syst. Nat. i, 308 (1818) incl. var. minor p. 309; C. palustris 
subsp. eu-palustris var. vulgaris Syme Eng. Bot. i, 5 ° (1863) incl. var. minor p. 51. 
leones : — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 506, as C. palustris ; Curtis FI. Lond., t. i, 1 14, as C. palustris ; FI. Dan. t. 668, 
as C. palustris ; Svensk Bot. t. 200, as C. palustris ; Reichenbach Icon, iv, t. 101, fig. 4712, as C. palustris. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 100. ( a , b) Lower leaves. ( c ) Flowering branch. ( d ) Head of follicles. ( e ) Follicle. 
Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). [Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 101. (a, b, c, d) Lower leaves. ( e , f) Flowering 
branches, (g) Fruiting branch. Hort., origin Perthshire (E. S. M.).] 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 2, as C. palustris ; Herb. FI. Ingric. i, 20, as C. palustris. 
Radical leaves cordate at the base, basal angle rather narrow. Stem not rooting at the nodes. 
Flowers often large (up to about 6 cm. in diameter). Petals usually overlapping at the base. 
Carpels somewhat arched. 
(/ 3 ) var. vulgaris forma minor comb. nov. ; C. minor Miller Gard. Diet. ed. 8, no. 2 (1768); C. palustris var. 
minor DC. Syst. Nat. i, 309 (1818); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France i, 114 (1893); C. palustris subsp. eu-palustris 
var. minor Syme Eng. Bot. i, 5 1 (1863). 
This is the small state often met with at the higher altitudes (up to 910 m.) on mountains. An example of such a 
plant, only 2 '5 cm. across, was sent to Mr Hunnybun to draw : before drawing it, he cultivated it in his garden for two 
years when the plant had grown almost to normal dimensions, as seen on Plate 101. 
(b) C. palustris var. radicans Huth in Helios Abli. u. Monat. Mitth. Naturw. ix, 70 (1892); C. radicans 
Forster in Trans. Linn. Soc. viii, 324, t. 17 (1807) ; Smith Eng. Bot. no. 2175 (1910); C. palustris subsp. radicans 
Syme Eng. Bot. i, 52 (1863); C. palustris var. zetlandica Beeby in Scott. Nat. 21 (1887). 
leones : — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 2175, as C. radicans. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 102. ( a ) Flowering branch, (b) Fruiting branch. Perthshire (E. S. M.). 
Branches rooting at the nodes. Laminae often with basal lobes widely spreading. Flowers rather 
small (i - 5 — 2 ‘5 cm. in diameter). Carpels as in var. vulgaris. 
The form named var. zetlandica by Beeby (loc. cit.), and figured in the present work (Plate 102), is intermediate in leaf- 
shape between var. vulgaris and the original C. radicans of Forster {loc. cit.). In a note on Mr Hunnybun’s original drawing, 
the Rev. E. S. Marshall states that “ even on the same individual there is often much variation in the shape of the leaves ” of 
the var. radica?is. 
Smith {loc. cit.) kept this variety as a species and Syme {loc. cit.) as a subspecies 1 ; but neither author gives any character 
of the flower or fruit or seed which serves to distinguish the plant from all the other forms of this polymorphic and responsive 
species. The variety radicans has a distinct appearance on account of its procumbent and rooting stem ; and it is exactly 
what those field botanists who determine “ species ” at sight and principally by habit are fond of calling “ a very distinct 
species.” Until the point of view of such field-botanists is understood, their too confident phraseology is very apt to be misleading. 
Margins of lakes and rivulets in Wales (e.g., Carnarvonshire) and Scotland, from Edinburghshire to Zetland ; 
ascending to 910 m. in Perthshire. 
Faeroes ; North America, and doubtless elsewhere. 
(c) C. palustris var. guerangeri Lamotte Prodr. FI. Plat. Centr. France i, 53 (1877); Rouy et Foucaud 
FI. France i, 114 (1893); C. guerangeri Boreau in Billot’s Annot. 11 (1855); C. palustris subsp. eu-palustris var. 
guerangeri Syme Eng. Bot. i, 50 (1863). 
1 Syme’s subspecies are virtually equivalent to our varieties, and his varieties to our subvarieties and formae. 
M. III. 
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