THE CROWFOOT. 
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Botanical Name, Ranunculus repens. —Class, Poly- 
andria. —Order, Polygynia. — Floivers, yellow .—Native 
place, Europe. 
Sentiment. 
INGRATITUDE. 
ORIGIN OF THE SENTIMENT. 
This plant is said to become poisonous by 
cultivation; therefore, if care, toil, and ex¬ 
pense are bestowed upon it, instead of im¬ 
proving, it makes it venomous. From this 
supposed quality, the existence of which we 
much doubt, it has been thought a suitable 
emblem of ingratitude; another species, 
however, the Ranunculus acris, might pos¬ 
sibly become, by high cultivation, so acrid as 
to be estimated poisonous, as, when it is met 
Avith in rich pasture, it blisters the mouths of 
cattle that feed upon it. There are several 
