Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ranunculales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ranunculaceae
Genus
Ranunculus L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Ranunculus altus Garn.-Jones in Connor & Edgar, New Zealand J. Bot. 25: 125 (1987)
 Description

Robust, tufted perennial, (10)–20–35 cm tall; rhizome 0. Stems decumbent or ascending, with spreading hairs. Basal lvs pale green, ternatifid to ternate, hairy; leaflets sessile or stalked, obovate-cuneate, 3-lobed, bluntly to sharply toothed; petioles (3)–5–10 cm long, with dense, fine, spreading hairs. Cauline lvs similar to basal but smaller, becoming simple and sharply 3-toothed. Fls 3–5 per stem, 12–18 mm diam. Pedicels sulcate, with spreading hairs, short at flowering, increasing at fruiting to 3–10 cm long; bracts narrowly lanceolate, acute, entire. Sepals recurved at late flowering, hairy. Petals 5, yellow, usually elliptic, rarely obovate; nectary single, 0.8–1 mm from petal base, covered by a short broad scale. Receptacle hairy. Achenes dark or dark at tips, 40–60, in globose heads, flattened, glabrous or bearing 1 or a few bristles on margin; body 2–2.5–(3.5) mm long; beak hooked at tip, 1–1.3 mm long.

[From: Webb et al. (1988) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 4.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
Connor, H.E.; Edgar, E. 1987: Name changes in the indigenous New Zealand flora, 1960–1986 and Nomina Nova IV, 1983–1986. New Zealand Journal of Botany 25: 115–170.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1990: Typification of Ranunculus names in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 28: 115–123.