(A) Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens) is, as 
per its name, a creeping plant. The stem is prostrate, 
creeping along the ground and striking new roots from 
the junctions of the leaf and flower stems with the 
main one. The flowers are large and broad-petalled, 
both the petals and stamens being a deep shining golden 
yellow. This species is indigenous in the West, but 
probably introduced from Europe in the East, where it 
is found chiefly near the coast, in ditches or along the 
edges of marshes. 
(B) Common Buttercup; Crowfoot (R. acris) (Eu¬ 
ropean ). Even though we have quantities of native 
Buttercups, it is this handsome foreigner that is the 
most abundant; this is the species that is found in fields 
everywhere, the one that delights the little folks and 
figures in many of their childish games. 
The leaves and stems of the Crowfoots are very acrid, 
but not poisonous; on this account they are shunned 
by cattle and horses. This accounts in part for their 
abundance in most fields and pastures. 
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