Ranunculus. | RANUNCULACE. L7 
17. R. sericophyllus, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 6.—A hand- 
some short stout pale-green plant 2-8in. high, usually densely 
covered with long silky hairs, but sometimes nearly glabrous. 
Rootstock short, stout. Leaves numerous, somewhat membranous, 
all radical; petioles short or long, 1—5in., with very broad mem- 
branous sheathing bases; blade 4-14in. long, broadly ovate in 
outline, tripinnatisect, ultimate divisions small, linear or linear- 
oblong, acute or nearly so, generally tipped with a pencil of silky 
hairs. Scape usually longer than the leaves, stout, erect, 1-flowered, 
naked or with an entire or laciniate bract. Flowers large, golden- 
yellow, 1-14 in. diam. or even more. Sepals obloug, membranous, 
almost equalling the petals. Petals 5-8, usually broad, obovate- 
cuneate, rounded at the tip; glands generally 3, near the base. 
Achenes forming a rounded head l$in. diam., glabrous, turgid, 
keeled at the back; style stout, subulate.—Kuirk, Students’ Fl. 12. 
SourH Isnanp: Canterbury—Pouiter River, Cockayne! Browning’s Pass, 
Mount Brewster, Hopkins River, Haast ! Mount Cook district, Dixon, 7. F. C. 
Otago—Lake district, Buchanan! Matukituki Valley, near Mount Aspiring, 
mountains near Lake Hawea, Petrie! Humboldt Mountains, Cockayne ! 
Altitudinal range 3500-7000 ft. December -January. 
An exceedingly beautiful little plant, very abundant in the Mount Cook dis- 
trict, where it ascends to quite 7000ft. Mr. Petrie’s specimens from near 
Mount Aspiring are more slender and almost glabrous, and the petals are more 
numerous and narrower. Mr. Cockayne’s, from the Humboldt Mountains, 
have the leaves much less divided, with broader segments, but the petals have 
the 3 large glands of the type. 
18. R. Sinclairii, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 6.—Smaill, slender, 
2-6in. high, sparingly pilose with long white silky hairs or almost 
glabrous. Rootstock stout, sometimes branched above. Leaves 
many, all radical, 1-4in. long, usually soft and flaccid; petioles 
short, sheathing at the base; blade 1-2 in. long, ovate-oblong to 
_linear-oblong in outline, bipinnatisect or multifid; primary pinne 
2-4 pairs, opposite, often rather distant, very variable in the 
amount of cutting, ultimate segments narrow-linear, rarely oblong, 
short, acute. Scape slender, naked, 1-flowered, much longer than 
the leaves. Flowers small, 4in. diam. Sepals 5. Petals 5, nearly 
twice as long as the sepals, linear-obovate, with a single gland near 
the base. Achenes few, forming a small rounded head, turgid, 
glabrous ; style short, straight, subulate.—Kurk, Students’ Fl. 11. 
SoutH Istanp: Nelson—Wairau Gorge, Travers, T. F. C. Tarndale, Sin- 
clair! (Herb. Kirk). Canterbury—-Mountains in the middle Waimakariri dis- 
trict, Enys! Kirk! Cockayne! T.F. C. Otago— Buchanan! Maungatua, 
Petrie ! Altitudinal range 2500 ft.—5000 ft. December—January. 
A pretty little plant, too closely allied to the following, trom which it is 
principally separated by the more finely cut leaves. Mr. Petrie’s Maungatua 
specimens (distinguished by Kirk as var. angustatus) have narrower leaves and 
hairy scapes, and may belong to #. gracilipes. 
19. R. gracilipes, Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. 8.—Small, slender, 
pilose or villous with long soft hairs, especially on the petioles and 
