CELANDINE (Chelidonium majus), a common British plant, a member of the poppy family (Papaveraceae), an erect branched herb from 1 to 2 ft. high with a yellow juice, much divided leaves and yellow flowers nearly an inch across, suc ceeded by a narrow, thin pod opening by a pair of fine valves, separating upwards. The plant grows in waste places and hedge rows, and is probably an escape from cultivation. It has become widely naturalized in eastern North America, in open grounds, roadsides and in woods from Maine to Ontario and Illinois south ward to North Carolina. The lesser celandine is a species of Ranunculus (R. Ficaria), a small low-growing herb with smooth heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers about an inch across, borne each on a stout stalk springing from a leaf-axil. It flowers in early spring, in pastures and waste-places. It is sparingly intro duced into the United States from Massachusetts to Maryland.