BUTTERCUP.
Tilted by the breeze these bright little wild flowers flash and sparkle in the sunlight, lending to our meadows a daz zling golden glory.
Shakespeare speaks of them as" cuckoo buds of yellow hue" that "do paint the meadows with de light." They bloom in field and on road side from late April until September, but June finds them at their best and in greatest profusion.
The buttercup belongs to the crowfoot family, and has bright green leaves and yellow flowers with five smooth shining petals. Of the better-known species, the first to bloom is the bulbous buttercup of field and roadside. It is followed closely by the swamp or marsh buttercup, which loves the moist, shady spots, and the common meadow variety, sometimes called the blister flower be cause its acrid juice causes blisters when touched to lips or tongue. This fa miliar little plant is a native of Europe, but now belongs quite as much to us, for it is found throughout the United States and Canada. • Scientific name of common meadow but ter cup , Ranunculus acris. Flower about one inch across, with long slender footstalks; calyx has 5 spreading sepals; corolla 5 petals; stamens and carpels yellow. Stem erect, branched, and hairy; 2 to 3 feet tall, growing from fibrous roots. The leaves at the base grow in tufts with long petioles and are cleft into numerous lobes; stem leaves spring directly from the stem and usually have three parts.