RANUNCULUS LINGUA. GREAT SPEARWORT.
RANUNCULUS Lingua; foliis lanceolatis acuminatis subserratis, caule erecto multifloro.
RANUNCULUS Lingua. Linn. Sp. P I. p. 770. Huds.Anglp.Q4iO. Light/. Scot. p. 286.. FI.
Dan. t. 755. With. Bot. A rr. ed. 4. ml. S. p . 494. Hoffm. Germ. ed. 2, ml. 1.
P . I. p. 252. Willd. Sp. PL ml. 2. p. 1308. Decand. Fl. Fr. ed. 3. ml. 4. p. 904.
FI. Gall. Syn. p . 418. Smith Fl. Brit. p. 588. Ehgl. Bot. 1 .100. Aiton Hort.
Kew. ed. 2. ml. 3. p . 352. Pers. Syn. PI. ml. 2. p . 102. Pursh N . Am. FL
ml. 2. p. 391. Hook. FL Scot. P . l. p . 17 3 .
RANUNCULUS flammeus major. Great Spearwort. Rail Syn. p. 250.
Dutch. Groote Egelkolen. Fr. Grande Dome. Germ. Das grosse Speer kraut. Welsh. Blaenv
gwaew mwyaf. y
Class and Order. POLYANDRIA POLYGYNIA.
[Natural Order. RANUNCULACEiE, Juss., Decand., Hook.]
Gen. Char. Calyx pentaphyllus. Petala quinque, intra ungues poro mellifero. Pericarpia nuda.
Gen. Char. Calyx of five leaves. Petals five,, with a nectariferous pore at the base. Pericarps without awns.
Radix perennis, repens, crassa, fusco-viridis, fibrosa,
stolonifera.
Caulis erectus, tri- vel quadri-pedalis, subrigidus, fi-
stulosus, teres, glaber, vel pilis appressis scabrius-
culus, basi purpureus, superne viridis, femigineo
maculatus, subpaniculatim ramosus. 1
Folia oblongo-lanceolata; caulina lanceolata, acuminata
; inferiora basi insigniter attenuata, sed vix
petiolata ; superiora sessUia • omnia'distantia, indistincte
nervosa, magis minusve pubescentia,
pilis appressis, (nunc omnino glabra,) subserrata,
rubro-marginata, basi dilatata, membranacea,
striata, amplexicaulia.
Flores magni, terminales, aureo-flavi.
Calycis foliola late ovata, concava, flavo-viridia.
Petala obovato-rotundata, basi squamula instructa.
Stamina numerosa, flava.
Pistilla numerosa, in capitulum congesta, ovata,
gibbosa, flavo-viridia, stigmate sessili subobliquo
terminata.
Root perennial, creeping, thick, brownish green, fibrous
and stoloniferous. '
Stem erect, three or four feet high, subrigid, fistulose,
rounded, glabrous, or roughish with a few ap-
pressed hairs, purple at the base, green above
with ferruginous spots, and branched in a sub-
paniculated manner.
Leaves oblongo-lanceolate; the cauline ones lanceolate
and acuminated, the lower ones remarkably attenuated
at the base, but scarcely petiolated;
the upper ones quite sessile; all of them distant,
indistinctly nerved, more or less pubescent, with
appressed hairs (sometimes altogether glabrous),
subserrated, margined with red, dilated, membranaceous,
striated and amplexicaul at their
base.
Flowers large, terminal, golden-yellow.
Leaflets of the calyx broadly ovate, concave, yellow-
green.
Petals obovato-rotundate, having a small scale at the
base.
Stamens numerous, yellow.
P istils numerous, collected into a little head, ovate,
gibbous, yellow-green, terminated by the somewhat
oblique sessile stigma.
Fig- L Petal. Pig. 2. Back view of a stamen. Fig. 3. Front view of the same. Fig. 4. Single pistil.
Although of far less common occurrence than many species o f this genus, the Ranunculus Lingua is by no
means rare in marshy places, where reeds and other aquatics grow, in various parts both of England and Scotland
flowering in June and July. 0
The most common observer cannot fail to be struck with the superior size o f this plant and its flowers, and the
eminently bright golden hue of the latter; yet when its specific characters are to be sought for, it is found difficult
to point out such as shall at once distinguish this from the Lesser Spearwort. In the smoothness and pubescence,
both the plants are liable to vary, those specimens being most glabrous which grow where there is the greatest depth
of water. The most constant marks of distinction are, the upright mode of growth in the Ranunculus Lingua
which is unbranched nearly to the extremity; its vastly more acuminated cauline leaves, the lower ones not tapering
into decided petioles, although they are remarkably attenuated into a membranous, deeply channelled base.
>Io these characters may be added the great size of the flowers, and its tall stout stems.
The stem is fistulous in R . Lingua. In R . Flammula, according to Decandolle, it is solid; but Smith rightly
hgures and describes it as hollow. ° }