March 4. THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 349 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
M 
W 
MARCH 4—10, 1852. 
Weather near London in 1851. 
Sun 
Sun 
Moon 
Moon’s 
Clock 
Day of 
D 
D 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in In. 
Rises. 
Sets. 
R. & S. 
Age. 
bef. Sun. 
Year. 
4 
Th 
Land Tortoise revives. 
30.071 -29-944 
51—32 
W. 
_ 
40 a. 6 
44 a. 5 
6 5 
13 
11 52 
64 
5 
6 
F 
S 
Wryneck seen. 
29-770 — 29.613 
29.857 — 29727 
47—29 
47—34 
s.w. 
N.W. 
10 
38 
36 
45 
47 
6 38 
rises. 
14 
© 
11 39 
11 24 
65 
66 
7|Sun 
2 Sunday in Lent. Perpetua. 
29.955 — 29.948 
44—30 
N. 
— 
33 
49 
7 a 42 
16 
11 10 
67 
8 M 
30.028 —29.995 
45—24 
N. E. 
— 
31 
51 
9 7 
17 
10 54 
68 
9 Tu 
29.965 — 29.662 
46—36 
s. 
06 
29 
52 
10 31 
18 
10 39 
69 
10 W 
29-783 — 29.550 
48—31 
N.W. 
05 
27 
54 
11 53 
19 
10 23 
70 
Meteorology of the Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during: the last twenty-five years, the average highest and lowest tempera- 
tures of these days are 4g.3° and 32.5° respectively. The greatest heat, 68°, occurred on the 9th in 1820 ; and the lowest cold 
in 1847. During the period 114 days were fine, and on 61 rain fell. 
7 W on the loth 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
CROWFOOTS-RANUNCULACEiE. 
RANUNCULUS. 
{Continued from page 313 .) 
Section with Leaves Cut or Lobed. 
Ranunculus bulbosus : Bulbous Crowfoot; Buttercup ; 
Goldcup ; Butter-flower; Kingcup. 
Description. —It is a perennial. Hoot a solid, roundish, 
white bulb, fibrous underneath. Stem, one or more, erect, a 
foot high, round, hairy, leafy, hollow; alternately branched 
in the upper part; simple, and without offsets or runners 
below. Lower leaves on broad, channelled, hairy stalks, 
compound in three-leaflets, as well as deeply three-cleft and 
cut, varying much in hairiness. Upper leaves alternate, 
stalkless, more simple, with strap-shaped segments. Flowers 
terminal, solitary, on simple, furrowed, hairy, upright stalks. 
Calyx-leaves egg-shaped, concave, hairy, thin at the base, 
semi-transparent, turned back close to the stalk soon after 
they expand. Petals roundish, with a terminal notch, con¬ 
cave, varnished golden yellow. Nectary covered by a heart- 
shaped scale. Seeds flattened, smooth at the sides. 
Places where found. —Very common in meadows and pas¬ 
tures. Mr. Perry found a double variety near Leamington 
and Warwick. It is figured in some old herbals, and occa¬ 
sionally cultivated as the Double-yellow Bachelor's Buttons. 
Time of flowering. —May, June. 
History. —Next to the dandelion, this is the earliest yellow 
flower that makes our meadows brilliant. It is Shakspere’s 
“ Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue.” Like most of the Crowfoots,' 
it blisters and inflames the skin to which it is applied after 
being bruised. The root especially is said to raise blisters 
with less pain and more safety than Spanish flies; it has 
been thus employed as an application to gouty joints. The 
juice applied to the nostrils causes sneezing. The bulbs, if 
kept for a little time, lose their stimulating quality, and are 
eatable when boiled. Hogs root them up and eat them. 
The leaves, mixed with other herbage, are eaten by cattle of 
all kinds, and the mixture probably acts as a grateful and 
healthy stimulant. A slice of the root is sometimes applied 
with benefit to the gum of an aching tooth. After flowering, 
the old bulb decays, and a new one is formed above it. 
Ranunculus hirsutus : Pale Hairy Crowfoot. 
Description. —This is an annual. Boot of many long, 
thick, white fibres. Stem one-and-a-half foot high, branched, 
and spreading. Herb very variable in luxuriance, paler 
green than most of this genus, and clothed with fine, stiff, 
spreading hairs. Lower leaves on long hollow stalks, three- 
leafleted; lobed and cut; middle lobe stalked. Upper leaves 
stalkless, with 3, or more, narrower segments; surface of 
: leaves uneven, with little points whence the hairs issue. 
Flower-stalks hairy, furrowed. Calyx pointed, finally bent- 
| back close to the stalk, and clothed with hairs with glands 
at their base. Petals pale golden yellow. Nectary covered 
with a scale. Seeds flattened, bordered, rough on both 
sides, especially towards the edge, with an irregular double 
or triple row of small 311817 ) prominences. 
Places where found. —Common in moist meadows and 
clayey soils, where water has remained during the winter. 
1 Also on hanks by the sea-side. 
Time of flowering. —June to October. 
History. —The Ranunculus parvulus of some botanists is 
only a starved specimen of this species. Some botanists 
call it R. philonotis. It is liable to be mistaken for R. bul¬ 
bosus, from which it differs in having stiffer, longer hairs, 
more perfectly tliree-lobed leaves, the middle and outer lobe 
rounder, less deeply divided on the edges, and from the 
inner edge of each of the outside lobes a bit seems cut 
away ; calyx before opening seems pinched to a point; the 
flowers and seeds are smaller, it flowers later, and has no 
bulbous root. Ray says it is not acrid. Jacquin called it 
R. sardous, because he thought it the plant which caused 
the sardonic laugh, or grin. 
Ranunculus repens : Creeping Crowfoot; Creeping But¬ 
tercups. 
Description. —This is a perennial. Root slightly tuberous, 
with many white stout fibres, sending forth from its crown 
long prostrate runners, which take root at every joint. 
Stems one or two feet high, erect or ascending, round, hairy, 
leafy, branching. Leaves dark green, hairy, twice tliree- 
leafleted ; the upper ones with wedge-shaped, cut leaflets ; 
uppermost of all in 3 deep, spear-liead-shaped, acute, entire 
lobes. Upper leaves quite entire. Root-leaves often marked 
with a black spot. Flower-stalks five-furrowed. Flowers 
usually two together, bright yellow, like those of R. bulbosus, 
hirsutus, and others, but the hairy calyx is spreading, not 
bent-back, deciduous, falling with the petals. Petals notched. 
Nectary covered with a notched scale. Seeds not generally 
perfected, flat, smooth, with a small point. 
Places where found. —Very common in moist meadows, 
pastures, and shady neglected places. 
Time of flowering. —June to August. 
History. —From its readily adapting itself to any soil, and 
from its creeping stems, it is one of the most troublesome 
of pasture weeds. Its form varies much, according to the 
soil on which it is growing. In wet places it will reach to. a 
length of four feet, and the stem be nearly an inch in 
diameter; whilst in gravelly, dry soils it rests on the ground 
entirely, and is not stouter than a straw. It is acrid, and 
capable of blistering. Its flowers are rarely found double. 
No. CLXXIX., Vo l. VII 
