BUTTERCUP

buttercup, a name applied to several species of the genus _ranunculus_ (_q.v._), characterized by their deeply-cut leaves and yellow, broadly cup-shaped flowers. _ranunculus acris_ and _r. bulbosus_ are erect, hairy meadow plants, the latter having the stem swollen at the base, and distinguished also by the furrowed flower-stalks and the often smaller flowers with reflexed, not spreading, sepals. _r. repens_, common on waste ground, produces long runners by means of which it rapidly covers the ground. the plants are native in the north temperate to arctic zones of the old world, and have been introduced in america.