4 
I. RANUNCULACEjE. 
[ Ranunculus . 
b. Achenes flattened, border thickened ; style short , hooked. Leaves hairy. 
Stem branched, leafy. Leaves lobed or pinnate. Peduncle slender, 
longer than the leaves. Sepals reflexed 12. 12, plebeius. 
Stem 0. Leaves all radical. Scapes slender, longer than the 
leaves. Sepals spreading 13. R. lappaceus. 
Stem leafy. Scape shorter than the leaves, very stout, l-flowered 14. R. subscaposus. 
3. Stem creeping, or with creeping stolons ( unknown in R. gracilipes). Flowers yellow. 
Sepals refiexed? Achenes tumid, not muricate. — Marsh or water plants, all gla- 
brous except 19. Scapes \-Jlowered. 
Leaves 3-5-partite. Flowers ■§— f in. Petals 5-10, narrow . . 15. R. macropus. 
Leaves 3-5-partite. Flowers j-f in. Petals 5-8, linear . . .16. R.rivularis. 
Leaves 3-foliolate. Flowers in. Petals 5-8, spathulate . . 17. 12- acaulis. 
Leaves piunate or 3-5-foliolate. Flowers J-f in. Petals 8-10, 
ohovate-cuneate 18. R. gracilipes. 
Stem very stout, short. Leaves entire or lobed. Scape very short. 
Petals 10-15 19. R. pachyrrhizus. 
4. Stem very slender, pilose. Achenes muncate. 
Flowers minute, almost sessile, opposite the leaves 20. R. parviflorus. 
1. R. Lyallii, Hook, /., n. sp. An erect, very handsome, coriaceous 
plant, 2 to 4 ft. high, with paniculately branched many-flowered stem. Leaves 
peltate, on long stout petioles, glabrous ; limb orbicular, very concave, thick 
and coriaceous, 1 5 in. diam., simply crenate ; veins reticulated ; cauline 
sessile, lobed and crenate ; seedling-leaves not peltate, broadly rhomboid, with 
cuneate bases. Peduncles very numerous, villous, stout, erect, with linear- 
oblong bracts. Plowers waxy -white, 4 in. diam. Sepals 5, broad, pilose. 
Petals broadly cuneate, with an obscure oblong basilar gland. Stamens 
small, short ; anthers oblong. Torus cylindric, hairy, lengthening after 
flowering. Achenes villous, oblique ; style flexuose, subulate ; edges com- 
pressed, not margined. 
Middle Island : Milford Sound, Lyall ; moist places in the Southern Alps, 2-3000 ft., 
Travers, Sinclair, and Haast ; Otago, alt. 1-4000 ft., Hector and Buchanan. “Water 
Lily ” of the shepherds. The most noble species of the genus. This and the following are 
the only known Ranunculi with peltate leaves. 
2. R. Traversii, Hook.f., n. sp. Very similar to R. Lyallii, but smaller, 
the leaves 6 to 7 in. diam. and broadly twice or thrice crenate with deeper 
notches, and with two incisions near the base. Flowers cream-coloured. 
Middle Island: moist gullies in Wurumui mountains, Travers. I follow Mr. Travers’s 
opinion in distinguishing this species, which is certainly closely allied to the former. I 
have hut very indifferent specimens. 
3. R. insignis, Hook. f. FI. N. Z. i. 8. t. 2. Erect, robust, panicu- 
lately branched, villous, often 4 ft. high, fulvous or rufous when dry. Leaves 
rounded-cordate, 4-8 in. broad, very coriaceous, crenate and lobed ; petioles 
6 in. long. Peduncles veiy numerous, stout, with (often opposite) linear-ob- 
long bracts. Flowers golden, 1^ in. diam. Sepals 5-6, oblong, woolly at 
the back. Petals 5-6, obcordate, with 3 glands near the base. Achenes 
forming a small head upon an oblong pubescent torus, villous, tumid, with 
a slender, nearly straight style. 
Northern Island: Ruahine range, Tongariro, and Hikurangi, Colenso. 
4. R. pinguis, Hook. f. FI. Antarct. i. 3. t. 1. Stout, rather fleshy, 
