BULBOUS CROWFOOT. We have selected the present plant (_Ranunculus bulbosus_) as a good representative of the numerous species of plants familiarly termed buttercups, partly because it is the most striking in effect, partly because it is the one that will most readily be met with under ordinary circumstances; for while its fine flowers and beautifully-cut leaves render it singularly well suited to the purposes of ornament, the abundance of it in every meadow throughout the country places it within the reach of all who would desire to adapt it to any artistic purpose. From the commonness of the plant, and its general distribution throughout England, it has received many other names: goldknob, goldcup, baffiner, troil-flower, polt, kingcup, buttercup, butter-flower, cuckoo-bud, are all synonyms. The term _Ranunculus_ is derived from _rana_, a frog, many of the species being found in wet, swampy places; while the specific name, _bulbosus_, alludes to the bulb-like swelling of the lower part of the stem in this particular species. The name crowfoot has been given to the plant from the radiating character of the segments of the leaf, spreading as they do like the divisions of a bird’s foot; while the use of the word buttercup points to the old belief that the rich yellowness of spring butter is owing to the eating of this plant by the cows; the effect must rather, however, be ascribed to the tender grass, as any one who will take the trouble to notice the fact will find that cows in a meadow will, as far as possible, avoid the buttercups. The leaves of the bulbous crowfoot, like, with one exception, those of the rest of the family, are very acrid, and will, if applied to the skin, speedily blister it. The plant will be found in flower throughout the spring and summer: a variety is sometimes met with having cream-coloured flowers. The crowfoot is one of the favourite plants in the ornament of the Decorated period of Gothic. Representations of the natural plant may be seen on consulting E. B. 35, or F. L. vol. i. 38; refer also to “Water Crowfoot” in the present work, page 84.
CELANDINE (_Chelidonium majus_). The Celandine, though, so far as we are aware, not to be met with in ornamental art, is a plant in every way fitted for the purposes of the designer, whether we consider the form of the flower, of the pods which succeed the blossoms, or the rich outline of the leaf. The inflorescence is umbellate (Lat. _umbella_, an umbrella), that is to say, all the flower-stalks start from the same point in the stem, as in the case of the hemlock, the cowslip, flowering rush, and many other plants. _Chelidonium_ is derived from the Greek word _chelidon_, a swallow, from an old belief that the plant came into flower on the arrival of those birds, and withered when they took their departure; hence in old writings we frequently find the Celandine termed swallow-wort. The plant will commonly be found in waste places, and more especially near human habitations. It attains to a height of about two feet, and flowers throughout May, June, July, and August. Consult S. B. 95; E. B. 67; M. B. 263; S. C. 86, for drawings of the natural growth of the celandine.