Ranunculus subscaposus
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Herbs - Dicotyledons other than Composites
Flower colours
Brown, Yellow
Detailed description
Perennial tufted, non rhizomatous herb. All parts finely covered with long, stiff, yellow-brown, appressed hairs, Basal leaves long-petiolate (70-200 mm long), sheaths pilose hairy, lamina 30 × 40 mm, dark green, subreniform, ovate, deltoid-ovate, to deltoid-cuneate, ternate or ternatifid, leaflets and lobes usually 3-lobed again and deeply toothed. Cauline leaves similar but smaller, less divided, opposite. Stems elongating to 450 mm tall at fruiting; 1–3-flowered. Flowers 15–20 mm diameter, initially sessile or shortly pedicellate, peduncle and pedicels elongating at fruiting. Sepals 5, 5–8 mm, spreading. Petals 5, 5–8 mm long, yellow or brownish-yellow, narrowly obovate, obovate-oblong to oblong, undersides with sparse appressed hairs; nectary single, c. 2 mm from petal base, covered by a small rounded scale. Fruiting heads ovoid to globose, 8–10 mm diameter. Receptacle cylindrical, papillose-hairy. Achenes numerous, flattened, ovoid, to obliquely ovoid, usually sparsely covered with appressed hairs on the angles; body 2–2.5 mm long, beak straight, tapering, flattened, c. 1 mm long.
Similar taxa
The distinctive long, stiff, appressed yellow-brown (fulvous) hairs, long petioles and small brownish-yellow flowers all readily distinguish Ranunculus subscaposus from the glabrescent R. acaulis DC and R. pinguis Hook.f., which are the only other indigenous Ranunculus known to inhabit Auckland Islands and Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku. From the introduced, R. repens L. which is also on these islands, it is easily distinguished by its smaller size, non-stoloniferous habit, and by its smaller (up to 10 cf. 14 mm long), obovate, obovate-oblong to oblong, rather than broadly obovate, brownish yellow rather than golden-yellow petals.
Distribution
Endemic. Auckland Islands and Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku.
Habitat
Coastal to alpine (0–500 m a.s.l.) in damp turf, on forest margins, in scrub, along streamsides and swamps and in windswept turf and herbfield.
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.
- 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 – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
Threats
Not Threatened. Listed because it is a narrow range island endemic.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Synonyms
Ranunculus aucklandicus A.Gray, R. subantarcticus F.Fisher et J.Hair
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
December–January
Fruiting
January–March
Propagation technique
Probably difficult except in an alpine house.
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.
RANSUB
Chromosome number
2n = 48
Previous conservation statuses
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.
- 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.
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: RR
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: OL, IE
2004 | Range Restricted
Referencing and citations
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 subscaposus Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/ranunculus-subscaposus/ (Date website was queried)