Our navigation bar is loading . . .

Subscribe to JCSM's weekly inspirational message podcast!Write on Jason Gastrich's Facebook page!Add JCSM as a friend to your MySpace account!Watch Jason Gastrich's videos on YouTube!
Read, respond and subscribe to Jason Gastrich's blog!

Designate a portion of your next eBay auction to JCSM through eBay's Mission Fish program!JCSM's Top 1000 Christian Sites - Free Traffic Sharing Service!
Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

Helping San Diego, California and beyond since 1997

Please type your email and let us encourage you!

 
        Search jcsm.org now!

Click here and add this page to your favorites!

Return to the JCSM Study Center!

Encyclopedia Britannica



RANUNCULUS

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 897 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PYR-RAY
RANUNCULUS , familiarly known as " buttercup," or
crow
 -foot, a characteristic type of the botanical order
Ranunculaceae
 . The Lat. name, which means a little frog or 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 root-fibres, or with the base of the stem dilated into a 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
flowers
  are solitary, or in loose cymes, and are remarkable for the number and distinctness (freedom from union) of their parts. Thus there are five sepals, as many petals, and numerous spirally arranged stamens and carpels. The petals have a little pit or honey-gland at the base, which is interesting as foreshadowing the more fully developed tubular petals of the nearly allied genera Aconilum and Hellebores. The fruit is a head of " achenes "dry, one-seeded fruits. The genus contains a large number of species (about 250) and occurs in most temperate countries in the northern and southern hemispheres, extending into arctic and antarctic regions, and appearing on the higher mountains in the tropics. About twenty species are natives of Great Britain. R. acris, R. repens, R. bulbosus, are the common buttercups. R. arvensis, found in cornfields, has smaller 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
celandine
 , an early
spring
  flower in pastures and waste places, characterized by having heart-shaped entire leaves and clusters of club-shaped roots. The section Batrachium comprises the water-buttercups, denizens of pools and streams, which vary greatly in the character of the foliage according as it is submersed, floating or aerial, and when submersed varying in accordance with the depth and strength of the current. The ranunculus of the florist is a cultivated form of R. asiaticus, a native of the Levant, remarkable for the range of colour of the flowers (yellow to purplish black) and for the regularity with which the stamens and pistils are replaced by petals forming
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 present time. According to the canons of the florists, the flowers, to be perfect, should be of the form of two-thirds of a ball, the outline forming a perfect circle, with the centre close, the petals smooth-edged, the colour dense, and the marking uniform.
The ranunculus requires a strong and moist soil, with a fourth of rotten dung. The soil should be from 18 in. to 2 ft. deep, and at about 5 in. below the surface there should be placed a stratum 6 or 8 in. thick of two-year-old rotten cow-dung, mixed with earth, the earth above this stratum, where the roots are to be placed, being
The turban varieties, which are very showy for the borders, are of a few positive colours, as scarlet, yellow, brown,
carmine
 , and white. The florists' varieties have been bred from the Persian type, which is more delicate.
Other species known in gardens are R. aconitifolius (white bachelor's buttons), with leaves recalling aconite, and white flowers; the
double
 -flowered form is known in gardens as
fair
  maids of France or
fair
  maids of Kent. A double-flowered form of R. acris is grown under the name yellow bachelor's buttons. R. bulbosus also has a pretty double-flowered variety. Of dwarfer interesting 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 orange centre. Of the taller kinds mention may be made of R. cortusaefolius, a fine buttercup, 35 ft. high, from Teneriffe, and
hardy
  in the mildest parts of Britain; and R. hyalli, known as the New Zealand water lily. It is a handsome species, 2 to 4 ft. high, with large peltate leaves often a foot in
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.


End of Article: RANUNCULUS


If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/PYR_RAY/RANUNCULUS.html">
RANUNCULUS
</a>
(Previous)
RANUNCULACEAE 		(Next)
RAO, SIR DINKAR (18191896)

 


 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries

The JCSM Study CenterAmerica's Christian FoundationSkeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and ExplainedNKJV Web Hosting and Services
JCSM's Sermons, Debates and the Bible on MP3The Online Christ-Centered MinistriesDo You Have A Web Site?  Your Ad Could Be Here!Seminary Notes and PapersThe Picturesque Photo Albums


Jesus Christ Saves Ministries, P.O. Box 70696, Pasadena, CA 91117

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-present.



Kingdom Debt Solutions - Be Debt Free! Sport Logos - Quality Athletic Equipment The JCSM Study Center Your Ad Could Be Here! Launch A Successful Internet Organization or Business! Learn Guitar, Bass, or Piano in San Diego county!

You can advertise your site right here!

Free & Cheap Cell Phones  |  Cheap Long Distance Phone Service Carriers  |  Talk America Local Phone Service  |  Ztel & MCI - Unlimited Long Distance
Compare Cell Phone Plans & Companies  |  International Calling Cards & Prepaid Phone Cards  |  Voice Over IP Broadband Internet Phone Service  |  Wireless Phone Plans & Cheap Cell Phones

Dr. Jason Gastrich

Jason Gastrich, Ph.D.

 

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries is directed by Dr. Jason Gastrich. It was founded in 1997 and it exists to bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that have been sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA  92169
1-877-850-3878 or Email

JCSM is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization. Copyright © 1997-2009.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Online First Aid and CPR Certification  .  The Online Christ Centered Ministries  .  The Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Corrected and Explained  .  The Inerrancy Discussion Board  .  Free Email Accounts  .  Home Equity Loans  .  JasonGastrich.com  .  The Missions, Apologetics, and Creation Bible Conference  .  Young Earth Creation Science  .  San Diego Music Lessons  .  10,000 Wise Quotes and Spiritual Sayings  .  Gastrich.net  .  Maximizing the Internet: 12 Keys to Success  .  Louisiana Baptist University  .  NKJV Web Hosting and Services  .  Michael Newdow  .  San Diego Soccer Training  . Christian Guitar Lessons  .  Jesus Christ Saves Ministries  .  Eternal Security