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RANUNCULUS Lingua.

Great Spear-wort.

POL r A N D R I A Polygynia.

Gen. Char. Cal. five-leaved. Petals five, with a honey-bearing pore on the inside of the claw of each. Seedsnaked.

Spec. Char. Leaves lanceolate. Stem erect;.

Syn. Ranunculus Lingua. Linn. Sp. PI. 773. HudJ.Fl.An. 240. With. Bot. Arr. 572. Relh. Cant. 2x1.R. flammeus major. Rait Syn. 250.

X HIS has always been reckoned a very rare species ofRanunculus, yet it appears to belong to various parts of En-gland. Mr. Robson sent this specimen from near Darlington.Dr. Smith has observed it in several parts of Norfolk. Itgenerally grows in muddy ditches, flowering in July, and theroot is perennial.

The species is very nearly allied to R. Flammula, and likethat varies with entire or serrated leaves; but all its parts arevastly larger, its stem erect, its leaves more sharply pointed,and more seffile. The hairiness, which is but flight, is, asLinnæus observes, short and close pressed to the leaves andstem : this last mark indeed does not distinguilh it from R.Flammula. The flowers are of a bright golden colour, veryconspicuous.

Linnæus has called this species Lingua, because Dalechampiusguessed it to be the Lingua of Pliny ; but such conjectures aregenerally too ill sounded to be depended on, and ignorance ispreferable to vague and superficial information.

The herb is acrid like most of its tribe.