Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ranunculales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ranunculaceae
Genus
Ranunculus L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Ranunculus reflexus Garn.-Jones, New Zealand J. Bot. 25: 126 (1987)
Synonymy:
  • = Ranunculus hirtus Banks & Sol. ex DC., Syst. Nat. [Candolle] 1, 289 (1817) nom. illeg.
Vernacular Name(s):
hairy buttercup; Kōpukapuka; Kōpukupuku; Mārūrū; Pirikau
 Description

Tufted perennial, to 30–(40) cm tall; rhizome 0. Stems erect, with hairs spreading below, appressed above. Basal lvs usually pinnate, rarely 3-foliolate or 3-lobed, hairy; leaflets stalked, ovate or obovate, entire or shallowly to deeply 3-lobed, toothed, very variable in size, 1–5 cm diam. Cauline lvs similar, smaller, often merely 3-lobed; lobes narrower. Fls 3 or more per stem, 8–15 mm diam. Pedicels terete to sulcate, up to 20 cm long, with appressed hairs. Sepals reflexed at flowering, hairy. Petals 5, yellow, narrow-oblong to narrow-obovate; nectary single, c. 0.5 mm from petal base, covered by a small oblong scale. Receptacle hairy. Achenes 40–80–(100), in ovoid heads, small and pale, moderately flattened, glabrous; body 1.5–2 mm long; beak often dark, hooked, 0.7–1 mm.

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

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Bibliography
Connor, H.E. 1977: The Poisonous Plants in New Zealand. Edition 2. Government Printer, Wellington. [as Ranunculus hirtus Banks & Sol. ex DC.]
de Candolle, A.P. 1817 ("1818"): Regni Vegetabilis Systema Naturale, sive ordines, genera et species plantarum secundum methodi naturalis normas digestarum et descriptarum. Vol. 1. Treuttel et Würtz, Paris.
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. 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.