I. KANUNCULACEjE. 
6 
[ Ranunculus . 
flowers). I have a fine coloured drawing of this plant from Mr. Buchanan ; it is a very 
beautiful species, described as having the leaves at times almost entire. 
8. R. Haastii, Hook. /., n. sp. Very stout, fleshy, glabrous, a span 
high. Eadical leaves broadly reniform, 3 in. diam., palmately cut to the 
base into 5-7 deeply and irregularly laciniate, fleshy, blunt lobes ; petiole 
tapering downwards, 3-4 in. long. Scape as thick as the finger, naked be- 
low, with a crowded mass of sessile laciniate cauline leaves, forming a sort of 
leafy involucre to the numerous 1-flowered naked peduncles. Flowers absent. 
Aclienes forming a globose head as large as a nut, fleshy, very numerous, 
large, Jin. long, on a globose swollen torus, glabrous, turgid ; style long, 
flattened, subulate. 
Middle Island : shingle beds on Mount Torlesse and the Ribbon-wood range, alt. 4500 
to 6000 ft., Haast. A most remarkable plant, of which I have but two imperfect specimens ; 
it is probably very variable, and other specimens may deviate much from the above description. 
9. R. crithmifolius, Hook. /., n. sp. Small, perfectly glabrous, very 
fleshy, glaucous, stemless ; rootstock short, stout, horizontal, with thick fleshy 
fibres. Leaves all radical, on recurved petioles 1-2 in. long, blade broad, {— 1 
in. broad, reniform in outline, biternately multifid ; segments short, linear, T \ 7 
in. long, obtuse. Scape stout, fleshy, erect, shorter than the leaves, single- 
flowered. Flowers small. Sepals linear-oblong. Petals not seen. Achenes 
in a globose bead, ■§■ in. diam., turgid, keeled ; style sharp, straight, subulate. 
Middle Island : Wairau Gorge, on shingle slips, alt. 6000 feet, Travers. A very sin- 
gular plant, easily recognized by its glaucous, fleshy habit, finely divided leaves, and single- 
flowered, short scapes. 
10. R. sericophyllus, Hook.f., n. sp. Short, stout, erect, very silky, 
scapigerous, 1-flowered ; root fibrous. Leaves all radical, 1-2 in. long, pe- 
tiole stout, blade broadly ovate in outline, tripinnatisect, membranous ; seg- 
ments small, linear-oblong, subacute, with a pencil of silky hairs at The tip. 
Scape stout, erect, very silky, longer than the leaves, 1-flowered. Flower 
1-1£ in. diam. Sepals oblong, membranous, spreading, almost as long as 
the petals. Petals 8-10, obovate-cuneate, rounded at the tip, bright yellow ; 
glands 3, naked. Achenes not seen. 
Middle Island : snow holes on Mount Brewster, and Hopkins river, amongst grass, 
alt. 5-6000 feet, Haast. A beautiful little plant, allied to the Tasmanian R. Gannii, and 
like it, with 3 glands on the petals, but much more robust and silky, with large golden- 
yellow flowers, membranous leaves, with much smaller, shorter, ultimate segments. 
11. R. Sinclair!!, Ilook.f, n. sp. Small, 2 to 8 in. high, almost glabrous, 
with a few thin long silky hairs at the base of the petioles, and sometimes on 
the petioles and scapes ; rootstock stout, prostrate, with stout fibres. Leaves 
tufted, 1-4 in. long, ovate-oblong in outline, bipinnatisect or multifid; seg- 
ments narrow-linear, short, spreading, primary divisions 2 to 4 pairs, opposite, 
ovate in outline. Scape slender, leafless, 1-flowered. Flower •§ in. diam., 
golden-yellow. Sepals 5. Petals 5, linear-obovate, with a deep oblong gland 
below the middle. Achenes with subulate, short, straight styles. 
Middle Island : mountains above Tarndale, alt. 5000 ft ., Sinclair; Wairau Gorge, alt. ' 
4-5000 ft. Travers ; Otago, Lake district, 6000 ft.. Hector and Buchanan. A very peculiar 
little species, quite unlike any other, easily recognized by its small size and finely-cut leaves. 
The rootstock is prostrate, but I do not think the plant belongs to the creeping section of 
the genus, which is almost wholly glabrous. It resembles the Andean R. dichotomns more 
