Ranunculus .] 
I. RANUNCULACEjE. 
5 
erect, 4-] 0 in. high ; stem simple, branched, more or less villous with 
scattered soft white hairs, or quite glabrous. Eadical leaves on short (2-3 
in.) stout petioles, fleshy, rounded reniform, deeply crenate-lobulate, 1-3 in. 
diam., veins reticulated, in young plants oblong or cuneate ; cauline more or 
less cut. Scapes 1- or many-flowered, very stout or slender. Flowers f-1 
in. diam., golden. Sepals linear- oblong, glabrous or hairy. Petals 5-8, 
obovate-cuneate, more or less retuse ; glandular depressions 1-3 at the base, 
between the veins. Achenes numerous, crowded, forming a globose head, 
glabrous, sharply angled ; style subulate, nearly straight. 
Var. a. Scapes branched, many-flowered. Petals longer than sepals. Head of fruit small. 
— R. Munroi, FI. N. Z. ii. 323. 
Var. /8. Much shorter, stouter, and more fleshy. Scapes 1- or few-flowered. Sepals as 
long as petals. — R. pinguis , H. f. 1. c. 
Middle Island : mountains of Nelson, summit of Macrae’s Run, Tarndale, Discovery 
Peaks, and "Wairau Gorge, alt. 4-5500 ft., Muvro, Sinclair; Southern Alps, Haast. 
13. Lord Auckland’s group and Campbell’s Island, J. I). H. Var. j8 is certainly only 
an Antarctic form, with a more succulent, stouter habit, 1-flowered scapes, shorter petals, and 
larger heads of carpels. 
5. R. nivicola, Hook.; — FI. N. Z. i. 8. Erect, paniculately branched, 
2-3 ft. high, hirsute with -lax, soft, white hairs, or nearly glabrous. Leaves 
long-petioled, rounded cordate or reniform, 3-5 in. diam., deeply 3-7- 
lobed ; lobes broadly cuneiform, inciso-crenate ; cauline laciniate ; petioles 
8-12 in. Flowers numerous, large, bright yellow, 1| in. diam. Sepals 5, 
linear-oblong, hirsute. Petals 10-15, narrow cuneate, notched, with one 
gland at the base. Achenes forming a small broadly ovoid or rounded head, 
glabrous; style straight, hooked at the tip. — Hook. Ic. PI. t. 571-2. 
Northern Island : near the perpetual snow on Mount Egmont, Dieffenbach. 
6. E. geraniifolius, Hook. FI. N. Z. i. 9. t. 3. Tall, slender, spa- 
ringly branched, 1-2 ft., glabrous or villous in parts, especially near the 
root, with white, long, silky hairs. Eadical leaves broadly reniform, 2-3 in. 
diam., deeply 3-5-lobed ; lobes cuneate, crenate-lobed ; cauline sessile, cut 
and lobed ; petioles slender, 6-8 in. Peduncles slender, glabrous or vil- 
lous. Flowers J-l^ in. diam. Sepals oblong, glabrous. Petals 10-12, 
golden, twice as long as broad, blunt, gland depressed, close to the base. 
Achenes turgid, with short flexuose styles, glabrous, collected into a small 
globose head. 
Northern Island : snow rills on the Ruahine range, Colenso. Middle Island : top of 
Gordon’s Nob, Munro. Closely allied to R. nivicola, but smaller in all its parts; the 
rhizome may be creeping, but I think not. 
7. R. Buchanani, Hook.f., n. sp. Stout, erect, a span and more high, 
silky or glabrous. Eoot-stalk as thick as the thumb, full of milky viscid fluid ; 
rootlets thick, fibrous. Leaves radical on long thick petioles 1-4 in. long, 
reniform in outline, ternatisect, 2-6 in. broad ; divisions petioled, more or 
less cut into linear or cuneate, 3-5-fid lobes ; cauline similar, sessile. Flowers 
solitary, large, 2J in. broad, white. Sepals 5, reflexed, villous. Petals 
15-20, linear-oblong. 'Achenes turgid, pilose ; styles subulate, A— j- in. long, 
collected into a globose head. 
Middle Island : Otago, Lake district, in large patches, alt. 5-6000 ft., Hector and Bu- 
chanan ; ? Macaulay river and Waimakeriri country, alt. 2-5000 ft., Haast (both without 
