RANUNCULUS  , familiarly known as " See also:

• BUTTERCUP

buttercup," or See also:

• CROW (Dutch, kraal, Ger. Krdhe, Fr. corbeau, Lat. corvus)

crow-See also:

• FOOT

foot, a characteristic type of the botanical See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order See also:

• RANUNCULACEAE

Ranunculaceae . The See also:

• LAT

Lat. name, which means a little See also:

• FROG

frog or See also:

• TADPOLE

tadpole (dim. of rana, frog), was also given to a medicinal plant, which has been identified by some with the crowfoot . The Ranunculi are more or less acrid herbs, sometimes with fleshy See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root-See also:

• FIBRES
• FIBRES (or FIBERS, in American spelling; from Lat. fibra, apparently connected either with filum, thread, or findere, to split)

fibres, or with the See also:

• BASE

base of the See also:

• STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem dilated into a See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of tuber (R. bulbosus) . They have tufted or alternate leaves, dilated into a sheath at the base, and very generally, but not universally, deeply divided above . The See also:

• FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers are solitary, or in loose cymes, and are remarkable for the number and distinctness (freedom from See also:

• UNION
• UNION (known locally as Union Hill and officially as Town of Union)

union) of their parts . Thus there are five sepals, as many petals, and numerous spirally arranged stamens and carpels . The petals have a little See also:

• PIT (O. E. pytt, cognate with Du. put, Ger. Pfutze, &c., all ultimately adaptations of Lat. puteus, well, formed from root pu-, to cleanse, whence gurus, clean, pure)

pit or See also:

• HONEY (Chin. me ; Sansk. madhu, mead, honey; cf. A.S. medo, medu, mead; Gr. p Xt, in which 0 or b is changed into X; Lat. mel ; Fr. miel ; A.S. hung ; Ger. Honig)

honey-gland at the base, which is interesting as foreshadowing the more fully See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed tubular petals of the nearly allied genera Aconilum and Hellebores . The See also:

• FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit is a See also:

• HEAD (in 0. Eng. heafad; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Dutch hoofd, Ger. Haupt, generally taken to be in origin connected with Lat. caput, Gr. KerbOvi7)
• HEAD, SIR EDMUND WALKER, BART
• HEAD, SIR FRANCIS BOND, BART

head of " achenes "—dry, one-seeded fruits . The genus contains a large number of See also:

• SPECIES

species (about 250) and occurs in most temperate countries in the See also:

• NORTHERN

northern and See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern hemispheres, extending into See also:

• ARCTIC (Gr. "ApKroc, the Bear, the northern constellation of Ursa Major)

arctic and See also:

• ANTARCTIC
• ANTARCTIC (Gr. &vri, opposite, and apKTos, the Bear, the northern constellation of Ursa Major)

antarctic regions, and appearing on the higher mountains in the tropics . About twenty species are natives of See also:

• GREAT

Great See also:

• BRITAIN (Gr. Hperavuml vi7vot, Bperravia; Lat. Britannia, rarely Britannia)

Britain . R. acris, R. repens, R. bulbosus, are the See also:

• COMMON

common buttercups . R. arvensis, found in cornfields, has smaller See also:

• PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale yellow flowers and the achenes covered with stout spines .

R . Lingua, spearwort, and R . Flammula, lesser spearwort, grow in marshes, ditches and wet places . R . Ficaria is the pilewort or lesser See also:

• CELANDINE

celandine, an See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early See also:

• SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring See also:

• FLOWER (Lat. flos, floris; Fr. fleur)
• FLOWER, SIB

flower in pastures and See also:

• WASTE (O. Fr. wast, guast, gast, gaste; Lat. vastus, vast, desolate)

waste places, characterized by having See also:

• HEART
• HEART, LUNG

heart-shaped entire leaves and clusters of See also:

• CLUB (connected with " clump ")

club-shaped roots . The See also:

• SECTION
• SECTION (Lat. sectio, cutting, secare, to cut)

section Batrachium comprises the See also:

• WATER

water-buttercups, denizens of pools and streams, which vary greatly in the See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of the foliage according as it is submersed, floating or aerial, and when submersed varying in accordance with the See also:

• DEPTH

depth and strength of the current . The ranunculus of the florist is a cultivated See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of R. asiaticus, a native of the See also:

• LEVANT

Levant, remarkable for the range of See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour of the flowers (yellow to purplish See also:

• BLACK
• BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874)
• BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810–1883)
• BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898)

black) and for the regularity with which the stamens and pistils are replaced by petals forming See also:

• DOUBLE
• DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Er. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much)

double flowers . R. asiaticus is one of the older florists' flowers, which has sported into numberless varieties, but was formerly held in much greater esteem than it is at the See also:

• PRESENT

present See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time . According to the canons of the florists, the flowers, to be perfect, should be of the form of two-thirds of a See also:

• BALL (in Mid. Eng. bal; the word is probably cognate with " bale," Teutonic in origin, cf. also Lat. falls, and Gr. 7raXXa)
• BALL, JOHN (1585-1640)
• BALL, JOHN (1818-1889)
• BALL, JOHN (d. 1381)
• BALL, SIR ALEXANDER JOHN, BART
• BALL, THOMAS (1819- )

ball, the outline forming a perfect circle, with the centre See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close, the petals smooth-edged, the colour dense, and the marking See also:

• UNIFORM

uniform . The ranunculus requires a strong and moist See also:

• SOIL

soil, with a See also:

• FOURTH

fourth of rotten dung . The soil should be from 18 in. to 2 ft. deep, and at about 5 in. below the See also:

• SURFACE

surface there should be placed a stratum 6 or 8 in. thick of two-See also:

• YEAR

year-old rotten cow-dung, mixed with See also:

• EARTH
• EARTH (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Erde, Dutch aarde, Swed. and Dan. jord; outside Teutonic it appears only in the Gr. 'pq'e, on the ground; it has been connected by some etymologists with the Aryan root ar-, to plough, which is seen in
• EARTH, FIGURE OF
• EARTH, FIGURE OF THE

earth, the earth above this stratum, where the roots are to be placed, being The See also:

• TURBAN

turban varieties, which are very showy for the See also:

• BORDERS, THE

borders, are of a few See also:

• POSITIVE (or PORTABLE) ORGAN

positive See also:

• COLOURS, MILITARY

colours, as See also:

• SCARLET

scarlet, yellow, See also:

• BROWN
• BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
• BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
• BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
• BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
• BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
• BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
• BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
• BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
• BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
• BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
• BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
• BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
• BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
• BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
• BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
• BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
• BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
• BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
• BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
• BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
• BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
• BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)

brown, See also:

• CARMINE

carmine, and See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

white . The florists' varieties have been bred from the See also:

• PERSIAN
• PERSIAN, SYRIAN, EGYPTIAN AND TURKISH

Persian type, which is more delicate .

Other species known in gardens are R. aconitifolius (white See also:

• BACHELOR (from Med. Lat. baccalarius, with its late and rare variant baccalaris—cf. Ital. baccalare—through O. Fr. bacheler)

bachelor's buttons), with leaves recalling See also:

• ACONITE (Aconitum)

aconite, and white flowers; the double-flowered form is known in gardens as See also:

• FAIR

fair maids of See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France or fair maids of See also:

• KENT
• KENT, EARLS AND DUKES OF
• KENT, JAMES (1763-1847)
• KENT, WILLIAM (1685-1748)

Kent . A double-flowered form of R. acris is grown under the name yellow bachelor's buttons . R. bulbosus also has a See also:

• PRETTY

pretty double-flowered variety . Of dwarfer interesting See also:

• PLANTS

plants there are R. alpestris, 4 in., white; R. gramineus, 6 to 10 in., yellow; R. parnassifolius, 6 in., white; and R. rutaefalius, 4 to 6 in., white with See also:

• ORANGE
• ORANGE (Citrus Aurantium)
• ORANGE, HOUSE OF

orange centre . Of the taller kinds mention may be made of R. cortusaefolius, a See also:

• FINE

fine buttercup, 3–5 ft. high, from See also:

• TENERIFFE [Tenerife]

Teneriffe, and See also:

• HARDY, ALEXANDRE (1569?-1631)
• HARDY, SIR THOMAS DUFFUS (1804-1878)
• HARDY, SIR THOMAS MASTERMAN
• HARDY, THOMAS (1840- )

hardy in the mildest parts of Britain; and R. hyalli, known as the New See also:

• ZEALAND (also SEALAND Or SEELAND; Danish Sjaelland)

Zealand water See also:

• LILY

lily . It is a handsome species, 2 to 4 ft. high, with large peltate leaves often a foot in See also:

• DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter, and with waxy white flowers about 4 in. across . It is not quite hardy, and even under the best conditions is a difficult plant to grow well .