Ranunculus parviflorus
Common names
small-flowered buttercup
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Yellow
Detailed description
Annual; roots all fibrous. Stems moderately slender, sprawling to sub-erect, sparsely hairy, (50-)100-300-(600) mm tall. Basal leaves subcircular, 3-5-lobed to about ½ way, 10-30 × 10-40 mm; lobes obovate, cuneate, dentate to crenate, hairy; petioles hairy, (20-)30-80(-150) mm long. Cauline leaves similar to basal but segments becoming lanceolate, entire; uppermost leaves sometimes not lobed, lanceolate, entire. Flowers many per stem, 3-6 mm diameter. Pedicels erecto-patent, glabrous or hairy, terete, 8-40 mm long at fruiting. Sepals 5, hairy, suberect, obtuse, c.2 mm long. Petals 5, yellow, obovate-spathulate, 1.5-2.5 × c.1 mm; nectary single, 0.5-1.0 mm from petal base, covered by an obtuse scale. Receptacle glabrous. Achenes (5)-10-20, strongly flattened, bordered, broadly ovate to subcircular; body 2.0-2.5 × c.2.0 mm; face densely covered with short hooked spines; beak curved at tip, 0.5-0.7 mm long.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ranunculaceae
Ecology
Year naturalised
1867
Origin
Mediterranean, W. Europe
Other information
Etymology
ranunculus: From the Latin ‘rana’ frog, meaning little frog and probably refers to the plants typical marshy habit where frogs abound
parviflorus: Small flowers
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.
RANPAR