Ranunculus acaulis
Common name
sand buttercup, shore buttercup
Synonyms
Ranunculus petriei Allan
Family
Ranunculaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
No
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
RANACA
Chromosome number
2n = 48
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2018 | Not Threatened
Previous conservation statuses
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Distribution
Indigenous. New Zealand (North, South, Stewart, Chatham and Auckland Islands). Also Australia (Tasmania), South America (Chile) and the Falkland Islands.
Habitat
Coastal and occasionally inland. Usually in saltmarsh or meadow, muddy ground near tidal creeks, on rock platforms or rock stacks, Occasionally on salt pans, limestone bluffs and along lake margins.
Features
Perennial, mat-forming; rosettes tufted along pale, spreading, slender rhizomes. Leaves long-petiolate; lamina dark bronze-green to dark green, fleshy, glabrous, trifoliolate or deeply 3-lobed, 5-15(-20) mm diameter; lobes bluntly obovate, entire to shallowly toothed, terminal lobe entire or 3-fid, rounded to obtuse at apex, lateral lobes entire or with 1 basiscopic lobe. Flowers solitary, 5-10 mm diameter; scapes ± sessile, or very short, peduncles glabrous. Sepals spreading, glabrous. Petals 5-8, greenish-yellow, narrowly oblong or spathulate; nectary single, 1.5-2.0 mm from petal base, pocket-like. Receptacle glabrous. Achenes (6-)10-12(-30), not flattened, glabrous; body 2-3 mm long; beak straight, 0.5-1.0 mm long.
Similar taxa
Distinguished from other buttercups by the glabrous receptacle, fleshy, obovate, entire, bluntly toothed or shallowly lobed leaves with the apex of the terminal lobe rounded or broadly obtuse, and by the straight achene beak.
Flowering
August - April
Flower colours
Green, Yellow
Fruiting
September - July
Propagation technique
Easily grown from rooted pieces and fresh seed. An attractive pot plant.
Etymology
ranunculus: From the Latin ‘rana’ frog, meaning little frog and probably refers to the plants typical marshy habit where frogs abound
acaulis: From the Greek a-, without; kaulos, stalk, stem, meaning stemless, or seemingly so.
Attribution
Fact sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange for NZPCN (1 June 2013)
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Ranunculus acaulis Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/ranunculus-acaulis/ (Date website was queried)