38 ON RANUNCULUS TRIPARTITUS. 



ON RANUNCULUS TEIPARTITUS, DeCand. 

 By Prof. C. C. Babington, F.R. S. 



I have recently received from Messrs. H. and J. Groves a fine 

 set of specimens of the true Ranunculus tripartitus, DC, and wish 

 to corroborate the record of its existence in England akeady given 

 in this Jom-nal (Jom-n. Bot. 1877, p. 209). There was formerly a 

 plant so named included in our Floras, hut it has been shown by 

 Mr. Hiern to be the R. intermedins, Knaf, which was first described 

 in the Jom-nal denominated 'Flora' (v. 24, pt. 2, 558); and of 

 this there is a beautiful figure, under the name of R. tripartitus, in 

 the ' Suppl. to Eng. Bot.' (pi. 2946). It was through a mistake 

 of mine that the wrong name was given to it. Mr. Hiern corrected 

 this error in the ' Journal of Botany ' (v. 9, p. 67). Messrs. Groves 

 found the present plant near Setley, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, in 

 April, 1877. But Mr. R. V. Tellam had previously found it on 

 Innes Moor, in the parish of Roche, Cornwall, in 1876, as I learn 

 from a specimen, for which I am indebted to Mr. T. B. Blow. 

 I see that it is stated in the ' Botan. Loc. Record Club Report ' 

 for 1876 that both R. tripjartitus and R. intermedins grow on Innes 

 Moor. Mr. Tellam's specimen has submersed leaves with remark- 

 ably divaricate segments, rendered rigid on the older leaves by a 

 deposit upon them ; but the younger leaves have taken the tassel- 

 shaped form on their removal from the water. Difiiculties of this 

 kind often occur in deciding upon the character of the submersed 

 leaves when the plants grow in water full of lime or adhesive 

 mud. The few submersed leaves upon Messrs. Groves' plant show 

 the same character imperfectly, but Mr. TeUam's plant is very 

 satisfactory in this respect. 



R. tripartitus was first noticed in Brittany, and figured and 

 described by the elder DeCandoUe in 1808. It has since been 

 observed in many parts of France, especially in the north-western 

 provinces. Other stations are mentioned by authors, but are 

 doubtful, as R. intcrmedius, Knaf, and R. ololeucos, Lloyd, have 

 been often mistaken for it. The latter has very much larger 

 flowers, which have wholly white petals and somewhat diflerently 

 shaped fruit : the former is our R. interviedius. 



My foreign specimens of it. tripartitus are from La Mothe- 

 Saint-Heray (Deux Sc\Tes), contained in Billot's ' Exsiccatae'; 

 Nantes, from M. Lloyd ; Angers, from M. Lenormand ; the de- 

 partment of the Maine and Loire, from Dr. Leo ; and from 

 Portugal, from Dr. Welwitsch (No. 663). 



We may characterise the plant as foUows : — 



Ranunculus tripartitus, D.C. Submersed leaves loosely trifm-- 

 cate ; tassel-shaped seiiments flaccid ; Jioatinij leaves long- 

 stalked, subpeltate, tripartite, uith u-ed(/e-shaped 3-4-lobed 

 scfjments ; peduncles slender, about equalling the leaves ; 

 flowers very small ; petals narrowly obovate, subacute, 



