BRITISH 4VILD FLOAA'ERS. 
11 
§ 1. Leaves simple. 
1.—THE GREAT SPEAR-WORT. (Ranunculus lingua, Lin.) 
Engravings.— Eng. Bot., t. 100 ; 2d ed., t. 782. I slightly serrated; stem erect, many-flowered; root fibrous; fruit 
Specific Character. —Leaves lanceolate, pointed, nearly sessile, ' smooth. (Smith.) 
Description, &c.—This species is only met with in ditches and other wet places, where it is easily recognised by 
its leaves, which are not cut, but long and tongue-shaped. The form of the leaves gives rise to the specific name 
of “ lingua ,” which signifies a tongue ; and also to the English name of Spear-wort. The species is generally 
said to be rare, but it is by no means so uncommon as is usually supposed, as it is frequently mistaken for the 
common Butter-cup, which it greatly resembles in its flowers, while, from the situations in which it grows, the 
leaves are not conspicuous. I have myself frequently seen what appeared to me a very fine specimen of the 
common Butter-cup, which, on examination, I found to be the Spear-wort, particularly on sandy soils. 
2.— THE LESSER SPEAR-WORT. (Ranunculus flaiimula, Lin.) 
Engravings.— Eng. Bot., t. 387 ; 2d ed., t. 783. 
Specific Character. —Leaves ovate-lanceolate, blunlish, stalked ; stem reclining; roots fibrous ; fruit smooth. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This species is very common, but the flowers are small, and the leaves much shorter 
than in the preceding plant. There is a variety of this species with a creeping under-ground stem, which is 
common on some of the Scottish hills; but neither of them possess any beauty. The distilled water of this 
plant is sometimes used by the country people as an emetic, and Dr. Withering tells us that it acts instantaneously, 
without injuring the stomach so much as some other medicines used for the same purpose. 
3.— THE FICARIA, OR LESSER CELANDINE. (Ranunculus ficaria, Lin.) 
Svnonvmes. —Ficaria verna, Huds. ; F. ranunculoides, Dec. i Specific Character. — Leaves heart-shaped, angular, stalked, 
Engravings. — Eng. Bot., t. 584 ; 2d ed., t. 785. j smooth; petals numerous, elliptic-oblong. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This species, which is very common in every part of Britain where there are groves or 
thickets, is easily distinguished from all the other kinds of Ranunculus by its numerous star-like petals, and its 
heart-shaped leaves. The difference in the number and shape of the petals is so conspicuous, that it has been 
thought sufficient by De Candolle to make of it another genus, under the name of Ficaria. The roots of this 
plant are very remarkable ; they are tuberous, and are produced in little bunches. Some have compared them 
to very small figs, and hence the plant is called Ficaria, or Fig-wort ; but others think them more like grains of 
wheat: and, as they lie very near the surface of the ground, and are easily laid bare by a heavy shower of rain, 
they are supposed to have given rise to the stories sometimes told of show r ers of wheat having fallen, and having 
been seen by the country people in woods and thickets. This little plant appears to have been always a favourite 
of the poets, particularly of Wordsworth, who has celebrated it in some well-known verses : 
Telling tales about the sun, 
AVhen we’ve little warmth or none. 
Careless of thy neighbourhood, 
Thou dost show thy pleasant face ; 
Ou the moor, and in the wood, 
In the lane—there’s not a place, 
Howsoever mean it be, 
But ’tis good enough for thee.” 
“ Pansies, Lilies, Kingcups, Daisies, 
Let them live upon their praises ; 
There’s a flower that shall be mine, 
’Tis the little Celandine ! 
Ere a leaf is on a bush, 
In the time before the thrush 
Has a thought about its nest, 
Thou wilt come with half a call, 
Spreading out thy glossy breast, 
Like a careless prodigal : 
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