Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Ranunculus brevis Garn.-Jones, New Zealand J. Bot. 25: 126 (1987)
Synonymy:
  • = Ranunculus depressus Kirk, Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 12: 393 (1879 [1880]) nom. illeg., non Ranunculus depressus Georgi 1800
 Description

Tufted perennial, occasionally forming offset rosettes, to 5 cm tall; rhizome 0. Lvs deltoid, finely 1–2-ternatifid with linear segments, hairy, 1–3 cm long. Fls solitary, c. 1 cm diam., on short, erect, hairy scapes. Sepals spreading, glabrous or with a few hairs. Petals 5, yellow, oblong-obovate; nectary single, c. 1 mm from petal base, with a semilunar scale. Receptacle hairy. Achenes few, hardly flattened, glabrous; body 1.2–2 mm long; beak curved at tip, 0.3–0.5 mm long.

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

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Hitchmough, R.; Townsend, A.J. 2009: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand (2008 revision). New Zealand Journal of Botany 47: 61–96. [Declining]
de Lange, P.J.; Norton, D.A.; Heenan, P.B.; Courtney, S.P.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Ogle, C.C.; Rance, B.D. 2004: Threatened and uncommon plants of New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 42(1): 45–76.
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. [Nationally Endangered]
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. [Nationally Endangered]
Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1987: Orthographic changes for names of New Zealand vascular plants. New Zealand Journal of Botany 25: 118–170.
Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1990: Typification of Ranunculus names in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 28: 115–123.
Kirk, T. 1880: Descriptions of new flowering plants. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 12: 393–397.