any time it may be transplanted. I have pulled even flowering
plants to pieces, and the different parts, which, of course, had plenty
of roots to them, still continued to bloom.

[Illustration: FIG. 80. RANUNCULUS AMPLEXICAULIS.

(One-fourth natural size.)]

Flowering period, April and May.

Ranunculus Speciosum.

SHOWY CROWFOOT; _Nat. Ord._ RANUNCULACEAE.

This is another double yellow form of the Buttercup. It has only
recently come into my possession. The blooms are very large and
beautiful, double the size of _R. acris fl.-pl._, and a deeper yellow;
the habit, too, is much more dwarf, the leaves larger, but similar in
shape.

Flowering period, April to June.

All the foregoing Crowfoots are of the easiest culture, needing no
particular treatment; but they like rich and deep soil. They may be
increased by division at almost any time, the exceptions being when
flowering or at a droughty season.

Rudbeckia Californica.

CALIFORNIAN CONE-FLOWER; _Nat. Ord._ COMPOSITAE.

This, in all its parts, is a very large and showy subject; the flowers
are 3in. to 6in. across, in the style of the sunflower. It has not long
been grown in English gardens, and came, as its name implies, from
California: it is very suitable for association with old-fashioned
flowers, being nearly related to the genus _Helianthus_, or sunflower.
It is not only perfectly hardy in this climate, which is more than can
be said of very many of the Californian species, but it grows rampantly
and flowers well. It is all the more valuable as a flower from the fact
that it comes into bloom several weeks earlier than most of the large
yellow Composites. Having stated already the size of its flower, I need
scarcely add that it is one of the showiest subjects in the garden; it
is, however, as well to keep it in the background, not only on account
of its tallness, but also because of its coarse abundant foliage.

It grows 4ft. to 6ft. high, the stems being many-branched. The flowers
have erect stout stalks, and vary in size from 3in. to 6in. across,
being of a light but glistening yellow colour; the ray is somewhat
unevenly formed, owing to the florets being of various sizes, sometimes
slit at the points, lobed, notched, and bent; the disk is very bold,
being nearly 2in. high, in the form of a cone, whence the name "cone
flower." The fertile florets of the disk or cone are green, and produce
an abundance of yellow pollen, but it is grad