Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ranunculales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ranunculaceae
Genus
Ranunculus L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Ranunculus foliosus Kirk, Stud. Fl. New Zealand 14 (1899)
Synonymy:
  • = Ranunculus insertus G.Simpson, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 79: 421 (1852)
  • = Ranunculus subscaposus var. canterburiensis J.B.Armstr., Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 13: 335 (1880 [1881])
  • = Ranunculus lappaceus var. villosus Kirk, Stud. Fl. New Zealand 15 (1899)
  • = Ranunculus porrectus G.Simpson, Trans. Roy. Soc. New Zealand 75: 187 (1945)
Vernacular Name(s):
Grassland buttercup
 Description

Tufted perennial with usually fulvous hairs; rhizome 0; stem ascending, shortly decumbent at base, to 20–(35) cm tall. Lvs shallowly to deeply ternatifid, rarely ternate, hairy, 10–30–(50) × 10–30–(50) mm; lobes toothed or crenate, sometimes shallowly 3-lobed. Fls (1)–2–3–(10) per stem, usually pedunculate, sometimes sessile, (10)–15–20 mm diam., subtended by opposite or whorled cauline lvs. Pedicels terete, hairy, elongating at fruiting. Sepals spreading, hairy. Petals 5 or 0, yellow, obovate. Nectary single, 1 mm or more from petal base, covered by a small triangular or truncate scale. Receptacle hairy. Achenes 30–60 in globose heads, flattened, glabrous or with a few stiff hairs on back, 2.5–3.5–(4) mm long; beak rather broad, flattened, usually curved, 0.5–1 mm long.

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

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Nov.–Feb.; Fruiting: Dec.–Apr.

 Bibliography
Armstrong, J.B. 1881: Descriptions of new and rare New Zealand plants. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 13: 335–343.
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.
Kirk,T. 1899: The Students' Flora of New Zealand and the Outlying Islands. Government Printer, Wellington, N.Z.
Simpson, G. 1945: Notes on Some New Zealand Plants and Descriptions of New Species (No. 4). Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 75: 187–202.
Simpson, G. 1952: Notes on some New Zealand plants and descriptions of new species (No. 5). Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand 79: 419–435.