Ranunculus .] 
1. HANUNCULACEiE. 
7 
than any other. A Ruahine-range plant, of Colenso, with long hairs on scapes and petioles, 
and less divided leaves, but without flower, may be a form of this. 
12. R. pleheius, Br.; — M. N. Z. i. 9. — R.Mrtus, Banks and Sol. ; PI. 
N. Z. i. 9. Short or tall, more or less branched, and covered with long spread- 
ing or appressed hairs. Leaves mostly radical, long-petioied, 3-folioIate or pin- 
nately biternate ; leaflets usually broadly ovate, lobed and toothed. Scapes or 
branches numerous, ascending, slender, leafy, branched, 10-24 in. long, with 
few sessile or petioled leaves. Peduncles slender, glabrous or covered with ap- 
pressed or patent, rigid or soft hairs. 'Flowers f in. diam. Sepals oblong, 
reflexed. Petals twice as long, obovate, rounded at the tip, with a small de- 
pressed gland at the base. Achenes glabrous, compressed, forming a rounded 
head ; margin thickened ; style short, hooked ; receptacle elongate-ovoid, pi- 
lose. — R. acris, A. Kich. Flora, not Linn. 
Abundant throughout the islands. Banks and Solander, etc. A common Australian 
plant, and probably a form of a South African and European one. 
13. R. lappaceus, 8m., var. multiscapus. — R. multiscapus, Hook. f. 
FI. N. Z. i. 9. t. 5. Much smaller than R. plebeius, 1-10 in. high, more or 
less hairy or hirsute, and differing in the entire or 3 -lobed leaves, slender 
single-flowered scapes, and spreading sepals. Leaves ^-1 in. long, cuneate 
or ovate or ovate-rotundate, coarsely crenate, entire or 3-lobed, or 3-partite. 
Scapes usually longer than the leaves, covered with spreading or appressed 
hairs. Petals often large and bright yellow. 
Northern and Middle Islands : common in many situations, especially subalpine 
ones, ascending to 3000 feet in Otago, A most abundant Tasmanian and Australian plant. 
14. R, subscaposus, Hook./. FI. Antarct. i. 5. Erect or decumbent, 
very hairy, almost hispid, 6-10 in. high ; root fibrous. Leaves on petioles 
4-8 in. long, covered with spreading or appressed hairs ; blade 1-1 ^ in. 
long, hairy on both surfaces, either broadly triangular-ovate and 3-lobed to 
the base, the lobes cuneate and incised, or entire with a cuneate base, and the 
margin above the middle deeply lobed or cut. Scape or stem shorter than 
the leaves, hispid or villous, sometimes running. Flowers small, •£— J in. 
broad. Sepals 5, spreading, membranous. Petals 5, bright yellow. Pipe 
achenes not seen. 
Middle Island : Hopkins river, shady gorges near snow, alt. 4-5000 ft., Haast. 
Campbell's Island, Lygll. This seems an alpine ally or a form of R. plebeius, remarkable 
for the stout hispid or hairy scapes or flowering branches being shorter than the leaves. 
15. R. macropus, Hook. f. FI. N. Z. i. 10. Perfectly glabrous. 
Stems slender, 2 ft. long and more, fistular prostrate and rooting. Leaves 1-3 
in. diam., semicircular in outline, cut to the base into 3-5 leaflets ; leaflets 
broad- or narrow- cuneate, irregularly cut and lobed at the apex, lobes obtuse ; 
petiole 4-12 in. long, weak. Peduncles solitary, axillary, those near the 
ends of the branches short, the rest very long. Flower -J— f in. diam. Sepals 5. 
Petals 5-10, longer or shorter than the sepals, narrow obovate-oblong ; gland 
depressed, basal. Achenes turgid, glabrous, smooth, collected in a small glo- 
bose bead ; style subulate ; receptacle oblong, glabrous. — Hook. Ic. PI. t. 634. 
Common in pools and marshes, apparently throughout the the islands, from Poverty Bay, 
Colenso , to Otago, Lindsay. This differs from R. rivularis chiefly in its very great size, 
more lax habit, very long petioles, and the much broader segments of the leaves. 
