Spearwort
Ranunculus ambigens. Crowfoot Family.
Stems.--One to two feet high. Leaves.--Oblong or lance-shaped; mostly toothed; contracted into a half-clasping leaf-stalk. Flowers.--Bright Yellow; solitary or clustered. Calyx.--Of five sepals. Corolla.--Of five to seven oblong petals. Stamens.--Indefinite in number, occasionally few. Pistils.--Numerous in a head.
Many weeks after the marsh marigolds have passed away, just such marshy places as they affected are brightly flecked with gold. Wondering, perhaps, if they can be flowering for the second time in the season, we wade recklessly into the bog to rescue, not the marsh marigold, but its near relation, the spearwort, which is still more closely related to the buttercup, as a little comparison of the two flowers will show. This plant is especially common at the North.
Steironema ciliatum. Primrose Family.
Stem.--Erect; two to four feet high. Leaves.--Opposite; narrowly oval; on fringed leaf-stalks. Flowers.--Yellow; on slender stalks from the axils of the leaves. Calyx.--Deeply five-parted. Corolla.--Deeply five-lobed; wheel-shaped; yellow, with a reddish centre. Stamens.--Five. Pistil.--One. This plant is nearly akin to the yellow loosestrifes, but unfortunately it has no English name. It abounds in low grounds and thickets, putting forth its bright wheel-shaped blossoms early in July.