ing. Under these circumstances it becomes an annual, and if treated as such, it is equal in attraction to many of the choicest exotics.

The common Speedwell (V. officinalis) is frequent in pastures, on hedge banks, in woods, and on heaths, and is found in flower from May to August. Its stem is from three to twelve inches long, the flowers growing in clusters at the extremity of each branch. They are blue when expanded, but the buds are of a pale flesh colour. On the moors near Sheffield the flowers are found fleshcoloured, but in every other respect, in all material points, the plant is similar to that with blue flowers, in company with which it grows in this locality. The properties of this species are astringent, but medicinally it is of no value, though formerly it was considered useful as a pectoral against coughs and asthmatic affections.

Brooklime (V. Beccabunga) has a procumbent or floating stem, and is found in abundance by the moist banks of streams and in bogs; it begins to flower in May, and blooms in perfection in the two following months. The leaves are ovate, opposite, and nearly sessile, and from their bases the flower-stalks spring, and are covered by a cluster of small pretty blue flowers. Its singular specific name is a Latinized form of its German name, Bachbunge; bach meaning a rivulet; in Yorkshire and in Norfolk, a beck.

In the Linnæan system the Speedwell is included in the class Diandria and order Monogynia; and in the Natural system it belongs to the order Scrophularinea.

BUTTERCUPS.

Ranunculus; Bauh. Renoncule Fr.

Die ranunkel; Ger. Ranonkel;

Rainunculo; Port.

Dutch. Ranuncolo; Ital. Ranunculo; Sp.
Lutik; Russ. Ranunkel; Dan. and Swed.

"Ye field flowers! the gardens eclipse you, 'tis true,
Yet, wildings of nature, I dote upon you,

For ye waft me to summers of old,

When the earth teem'd around me with fairy delight,
And when daisies and buttercups gladden'd my sight,
Like treasures of silver and gold."

CAMPBELL.

BUTTERCUPS are nearly as common as daisies, we might almost say, as great favourites, for they are sought after with about the same eagerness by children, and retain the same hold upon the mind of man. They are, too, frequently linked together in poetry; and they combine well with the daisy to add cheerfulness to the meadow. The following lines, by an anonymous writer, would seem to convey the notion that on some minds the buttercup is more permanently impressed than other flowers of its season :

"Again, I feel my heart is dancing

With wildly throbbing keen delight,

At this bright scene of king-cups dancing
Beneath the clear sun's golden light.

Again I pluck the little flower,

The first my childhood ever knew,
And think upon the place and hour
Where and when that first one grew;

And as I gaze upon its cup

Shining with burnish'd gold,
The faithful memory calls up

How many a friend beloved of old!"

The Bulbous Crowfoot (Ranunculus bulbosus) has its leaves growing together in threes (ternate), or cut into three twice over (bi-ternate), the leaflets three cleft, divided into three and cut, the radical ones on long slender footstalks (petioles), dilated at the base, the upper without footstalks (sessile); the stem is erect, and the root is a knob; the footstalks of the flowers (peduncles) are furrowed; the flower-cup (calyx) turned back; the petals are roundish, wedge-shaped, with a short claw and broad honey-bearing (nectariferous) scales. This species is frequent, flowering in May and June, and is perhaps the most common of our Ranunculuses.

Dr. Deakin, in "Florigraphia Britannica," says that this kind" is as pungent in its taste, and as stimulating in its properties as R. acris, and seems to be refused by most cattle. It is, however, no doubt, a very useful stimulating plant, when mixed with others, and as it is less deleterious in its properties when dried and made into hay, it becomes a useful and valuable component amongst other plants wanting this stimulating property. It has been used for the same purposes as R. acris, but, like it, it is now out of use medicinally." The Doctor adds to this the beautiful lines of Clare, in which he mentions the buttercup, which he seems to have transferred from the "Sentiment of Flowers," where they were first quoted in connection with the buttercup, as the Emblem of Ingratitude.

The upright Meadow Crowfoot (R. acris) has its leaves thrice divided, the radical ones lobed and cut, the footstalks long and channeled, the upper with linear segments; the stem is erect, from one to two feet high, branched and leafy, round, hollow, and more or less covered with slender hairs. The flowers, portrayed in our group, are of a bright golden yellow, the footstalks round and hairy. There is a scale at the base of the petal which distinguishes it from the Wood Crowfoot (R. auricomus), and its spreading calyx distinguishes it from the preceding species (R. bulbosus), with which it is almost equally common, blooming during the months of June and July. The specific name (acris) was given to this plant on account of its corroding properties, for, when bruised and applied to the skin, it produces inflammation, blisters, and ulceration, and was at one time used for these purposes in diseases, when counter irritation was considered desirable; but as it frequently caused sores, which were not healed without great difficulty, its use has been abandoned. This acrid property is generally so great, that neither cows nor horses will touch them, however bare the pasture may be of other herbage. If, therefore, as has been asserted, the name of Buttercup, or Butterflower, was given to these plants from a supposition that the flowers imparted their colour to butter, it is clear that it was a mere fancy, and that it was indulged in without any inquiry into the fact whether the Buttercup was, or was not, taken as food by kine.

Of the other species of Crowfoot which grow in similar situations with the two preceding, and therefore the more likely to be confounded with them, we may mention the Pale Hairy Crowfoot (R. hirsutus) which may

be distinguished from R. acris by the absence of the spreading calyx, and from R. bulbosus by its fibrous root. It is not at all unfrequent in meadows and waste ground, more particularly in moist places, or such as are liable to be occasionally overflowed. In low tracts near London it is abundant. The whole plant, which varies from a few inches to two feet in height, is hairy, and bears many flowers. It is an annual, and blooms from June to October.

The Creeping Crowfoot (R. repens) is also common in moist meadows and pastures, where it is the most troublesome weed of its genus, its creeping scions destroying the grass as they extend. This habit and the spreading calyx distinguish it from R. bulbosus, its furrowed peduncles distinguish it from R. acris, which has rounded peduncles, and its tuberous base renders it distinct from R. hirsutus. It is a very variable plant; the radical leaves are mostly marked with a black or dark brown spot in the middle. Its stem attains to about the height of twelve inches, and is branched. The flowers are very numerous, and sometimes are found double. Occasionally the seeds are not perfected, no uncommon occurrence in plants which propagate themselves by other means. It is in flower from June to September.

These four species, as they have a similar habitat, may easily be mistaken one for the other; we would therefore recommend our readers to gather a specimen of each with the root, and compare them carefully, after which they will readily distinguish them at sight. They all belong to the Linnæan class Polyandria, and order Polygynia; and to the Natural order Ranunculacea.