Ranunculus godleyanus
Common names
yellow alpine buttercup
Biostatus
Native
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Stout, glabrous, perennial, rosette forming herb bearing flowering stems up to 0.6 m tall. Rhizomes stout, white, 10-15 mm diam., shortly branched. Rosette leaves glabrous, fleshy and coriaceous, on thick fleshy petioles 50-150 x 5-15 mm, bases widely sheathing; lamina 60-150 x 40-100 mm, pale green, broadly oblong, apex rounded, base rounded to cuneate, margin coarsely crenate, veins shallowly reticulate. Scape stout, 0.2-0.6 m tall, naked below, bearing from the middle up 2-4 large, sessile or shortly stalked oblong or rounded bracts from the axils of which arise several simple or branched flowering peduncles, each bearing 1-2 secondary bracts subtending the pedicels. Flowers 5-15 per scape, 30-50 mm diam., bright golden yellow; sepals 5, broadly oblong, glabrous; petals 5-6, cuneate obovate, emarginate, gland basally, large, naked, often split 2-3 times into parallel lobes; receptacle oblong. Achenes numerous, pilose with long silky hairs or glabrescent; body ovate, turgid,(2.2-)2.5-3.0 mm long, surface dull, light orange-yellow, orange-brown or grey nut brown; beak (4.0-)5.0-5.5 mm long, usually straight, rarely hooked or curved.
Similar taxa
Close to R. insignis Hook.f. from which it differs by its completely glabrous leaves (those of R. insignis either have a dense covering of spreading hairs or the sparse hairs confined to the leaf margin), flattened (up to 20 mm wide) rather than terete (< 5 mm wide) petiole, and achene beaks which are 2-3X, rather than 0.4-1.5X the length of the body
Distribution
Endemic. South Island from Mt Rolleston and Mt Hunt (Arthur’s Pass National Park) south to Mt Sefton near the Hermitage (Mt Cook National Park).
Habitat
High alpine (1400-2030 m a.s.l.). On shaded to sunny, permanently damp, rock ledges, cliff faces, boulder chokes and falls usually in the immediate vicinity of permanent icefields and glaciers.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | At Risk – Declining | Qualifiers: DPT, RR
Threats
An high altitude endemic, naturally uncommon because of its habitat preferences. However, it is directly threatened by thar and chamois which browse this species wherever they can reach it. Provided thar and chamois numbers are kept down this species thrives (hence the qualifier CD - conservation dependent). For this reason its presence and condition provides an excellent bioindicator of the relative density of thar and chamois.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ranunculaceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December - February
Fruiting
February - May
Propagation technique
Difficult. Should not be removed from the wild
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available.
Etymology
ranunculus: From the Latin ‘rana’ frog, meaning little frog and probably refers to the plants typical marshy habit where frogs abound
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.
RANGOD
Chromosome number
2n = 48
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Recovering | Qualifiers: CD, RR
2012 | At Risk – Recovering | Qualifiers: CD, RR
2009 | At Risk – Recovering | Qualifiers: CD, RR
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Fisher, F.J.F. 1965: The alpine Ranunculi of New Zealand. Bulletin, New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research 165: 1-192.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange (12 February 2007). Description based on Fisher (1965).
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Ranunculus godleyanus Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/ranunculus-godleyanus/ (Date website was queried)