18 RANUNCULACES. [Ranunculus. 
4 
scapes, 2-6 in. high. Rootstock short, rather stout, with numerous 
fibrous rootlets. Leaves many, all radical, 1-din. long, mem- 
branous, rarely subcoriaceous; petioles slender, sheathing at the 
base; blade linear-oblong in outline, pinnately divided; primary 
pinne 2-6 pairs, entire, 3-lobed, 3-partite, or again pinnate; ulti- 
mate segments oblong, cuneate at the base, acute or subacute. 
Scapes 1-3, longer than the leaves, naked, slender, pilose, 1-flowered. 
Flower 4-2in. diam. Sepals 5, oblong, silky. Petals 5, linear- 
obovate, rounded at the tip, with a single gland near the base. 
Ripe achenes not seen.—Kirk, Students’ Fil. 12. 
Soutu Isnanp: Canterbury—Mount Dobson, and Mount Cook district, 
T. F.C.; Lake Ohau, Haast, Buchanan! Otago - Buchanan! Dunstan Moun- 
tains, Mounts Ida, Pisa, Kyeburn, Petrie! Humboldt Mountains, Cockayne ! 
Stewart Istanp: G. M. Thomson ! Altitudinal range 2500-5000 ft., but 
descending almost to sea-level in Stewart Island. December—January. 
An exceedingly variable species, only to be distinguished from R. Sinelairit 
by the narrower outline of the leaves, the more numerous shorter pinnz, which 
are usually much less divided, and in small specimens often nearly entire, and 
by the broader ultimate segments. Many specimens are quite intermediate, and 
might be referred to either species. Ican entertain no doubt that both are forms 
of one variable plant. I have never seen specimens perfectly glabrous, as 
described by Hooker in the Handbook, and the roots are certainly not 
creeping. 
90. R. hirtus, Banks and Sol. ex Forst. Prodr. n. 525.—Stout or 
slender, erect or rarely decumbent, more or less branched, 6—24 in. 
high, usually clothed with soft spreading or rarely appressed hairs. 
Radical leaves numerous, on petioles 1-3 in. long, 3-foliolate; leaflets 
usually stalked, oblong to broadly ovate, rounded or cuneate at the 
‘base, coarsely and irregularly toothed or 3—d-lobed, or again 3-part- 
ite. Flowering-stems usually branched, with several cauline leaves, 
the lower of which are similar to the radical, the upper smaller, more 
sessile, and less cut or entire. Flowers small, seldom more than 
Lin. diam. Sepals 5, oblong, reflexed, fugacious, shorter than the 
petals. Petals 5, obovate, with a single gland near the base. 
Achenes forming a small rounded head, glabrous, compressed, mar- 
gined ; style short, hooked.—A. Cunn. Precur. n. 634; Raoul, Choix 
de Plantes, 47; Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 9; Kirk, Students’ Fl. 14. 
R. plebeius, &. Br. ex D.C. Syst. i. 288; Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. 
Fl. 7; Benth. Fl. Austral. i. 13. R. acris, A. Rich: Fl. Now. 
Zel. 289 (non Linn.). 
NortH, SourH, SrEwaRT, AND CHaTHAM IsLANDS: Abundant throughout, 
ascending to 4500 ft. October—January. Also plentiful in Australia. 
A very variable plant. The typical state can be recognised by the copious 
soft spreading hairs, sparingly branched stem, and trifoliolate leaves with broad 
coarsely toothed or lobed segments. Mr. Kirk’s var. robustus (Students’ Fl. 14) 
is simply a large state with the stem more copiously branched and the achenes 
slightly larger, and passes imperceptibly into the usual form, Var. membrani- 
folius (Kirk, l.c.) recedes in the opposite direction by its reduced size, more slen- 
der stems, thin 3-lobed leaves, and smaller flowers. The following varieties are 
more distinct :— 
