Family, Crowfoot. Color, yellow. Petals, none. Calyx, petal-like of 5 to 9 golden-yellow, broad, roundish sepals. Stamens, many. Pistils, 5 to 10, making many-seeded pods. Styles, mostly wanting. Stems, hollow and furrowed, 1 to 2 feet high, weak, ascending. Leaves, mostly from the root, but a few on the flower-stem. All large, rounded or kidney-shaped, on fleshy petioles. April to June.

Low, small, thickish herbs, among our earliest flowers to appear. Under the incorrect name of cowslip these plants are eaten as "greens," and they make a wholesome and agreeable dish. The true cowslip is a species of primrose. Caltha means golden cup, a suitable name for this bright, pretty spring flower that borders our marshes with gold. In swamps and wet meadows. (See illustration, p. 167.)

Marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)