Ranunculus.] i. ea'nunculaceae. 19 



Lower leaves on slender petioles lin.— 3in. long, S-foliolate or 2-ternate; segments 

 entire or 3-lobed, acute, glabrate or with long scattered hairs on both surfaces. 

 Peduncles iin.— lin. long, axillary or opposite the petioles. Flowers minute. 

 Sepals 5, ovate, membranous, fugacious. Petals 5, narrow-oblong, scarcely ex- 

 ceeding the sepals, with a minute basal gland. Achenes 5—10, slightly turgid, 

 faintly keeled; beak short, straight or recurved. — R. trilobatus, T. Kirk in 

 Trans. N.Z.I, ix. (1876) 517 (not of Kit.). 



SOUTH Island: Canterbury: Source of the Broken Biver, Gheesemcm I Otago : Swampv 

 Hill, Dunedin ; Gatlin's River ; Kelso ; Heriot ; Petrie I Makarewa, Winton, Centre Hill, &c., T. K. 

 Ascends to 3,500ft. In damp places, &o. Dec, Jan. 



A very distinct little species, which forms matted patches in places where water has stag- 

 nated during the winter. The stems are sparingly rooted at the nodes. Originally discovered by 

 Mr. Petrie. 



37. R. pachyrrhizus, Hook. /., Handbk. 8. Forming dense patches 

 lin.— l^in. high ; petioles, undersurface of leaves, and scapes clothed with long 

 weak hairs. Rhizomes robust, branched, creeping. Leaves all radical, succulent ; 

 petiole stout, iin.— lin. long; blade narrow-cuneate or obovate-cuneate, with 3—1 

 obtuse or acute lobes or teeth. Scape stout, naked, 1-flowered, ain.— lin. high. 

 Sepals 5, linear-oblong, spreading, obtuse. Petals 10—15, obovate-spathulate, 

 with a gland near the base. Receptacle shortly ovoid, slightly hairy. Achenes 

 glabrous, turgid, rounded ; style subulate, incurved. 



SOUTH Island: Otago: Lake district. Hector and Buchanan I Old-Man Range, Mount 

 Cardrona, Mount Tyndall, Mount Pisa, &c., Petrie I 4,000ft. to 6,000tt. 



A singular llbtle plant, differing in habit from all other New Zealand species. The achenes 

 approach those of R. pinguis. 



38. R. Limosella, T. Kirk ex F. Muell. in Trans. N.Z.I, iii. (1871) 177. 

 Small, glabrous, stems filiform, creeping and rooting at the nodes ; often matted. 

 Leaves solitary or rarely in pairs, iin.— 3in. long, narrow linear-spathulate, 

 nerveless. Flowers iin. in diameter, solitary, axillary, on filiform peduncles 

 much shorter than the leaves, tetramerous. Sepals broadly ovate, with mem- 

 branous margins. Petals narrow-linear, thrice as long as the sepals, revolute at 

 the lips, and with a gland near the base. Stamens 8—12. Carpels 8. Achenes 

 few, rounded ; style slender, straight or shortly recurved. — R. limoselloides, 

 F. Muell. in Hook. Ic. PL t. 1081 (not of Turc). 



NORTH Island : Lower Waikato lakes, Auckland, T. K. Taranaki : Between Opunake 

 and Normanby,- T. K. SOUTH Island : Lake Lyndon, Broken River Basin, Lake Pearson, &o., 

 T. K. Otago : Roxburgh, E. W. Bastings ! Sea-level to .3,000ft. In muddy or watery places ; 

 often mixed with Grantzia, Limosella., &o., so that it is easily overlooked. Dec, Jan. 



Easily distinguished from all other species by its narrow linear-spathulate leaves and 

 quaternary flowers, which are never developed on submerged plants. Sir Joseph Hooker remarks that 

 it approaches PL. hydrophilus, Gaud., of the Falkland Islands in its habit and the form of its leaves. 



* R. sardoTis, Crantz, Stirp. Atistr. ed. i. 84. Erect, lft.-2ft. high, stem and 

 petioles clothed with spreading hairs. Lower leaves 3-foliolate or 3-partite ; leaflets 

 stalked, 3-fid ; segments lobed, obtuse. Sepals 5, reflexed. Gland of the petal 

 covered. Achenes glabrous, rounded with a series of intrainarginal tubercles ; style 

 short, recurved. — B. hirsutus, Curt., Fl. Lond. Fasc. 2, t. 40. 



NORTH and SOUTH Islands: Naturalised in cool pastures. When growing in swamps it 

 sometimes attains 3ft. in height, with stout stems, large flowers, and less divided almost glossy leaves. 

 Nov., Deo. 



