8 
I. RANUN CULACEAS. 
[ Ranunculus . 
16. R. rivularis, Banks and Sol. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 11. Creeping, perfectly 
glabrous, slender. Stems tufted, or sending out creeping stolons, or prostrate 
and branching at the nodes, or floating and branching irregularly. Leaves 
broadly ovate, reniform or semicircular, 1 in. diatn., cut into 3-7 leaflets, 
which are linear or narrow-cuneate, deeply lobed and cut at the apex or to 
the middle, sometimes ternatisect ; petioles 1-3 in. long. Scapes or pedun- 
cles slender, longer than the leaves, 1-flowered. Flower f in. diam. Se- 
pals 5. Petals 5-8, linear-oblong ; gland depressed, placed just below the 
middle. Achenes as in R. macro-pus. 
Var. a. major, Benth. FI. Austral, i. 14. Suberect ; leaves tufted. — 11. incisus, Hook. f. 
FI. N. Z. i. 10, t. iv. 
Var. (i. subjtuitans, Benth. 1. c. Floating, or prostrate in wet swamps. Leaves alternate. 
— R. rivularis, FI. N. Z. i. 11 ; R. inundatus, Banks and Sol.; FI. Tasm. i. 8. 
Abundant in watery places throughout the islands, Banks and Solander, etc. Also abun- 
dant in Australia. 
17. R. acaulis, Banks and Sol. ; — FI. N. Z. i. 11. Small, perfectly gla- 
brous, rather succulent. Stems with creeping stolons, 4-6 in. long. Leaves 
tufted, in. broad, cut into 3, obovate, entire or 2-3-lobed, coriaceous, 
broad, obtuse leaflets; petioles 1-3 in. long. Scapes 1-flowered, usually 
shorter than the petioles. Flower | in. diam. Sepals 5. Petals 5-8, 
spathulate ; gland depressed, near the middle of the petal. Achenes as in R. 
macropus. 
Northern and Middle Islands: sandy and gravelly places, by rills of water. Bay of 
Islands, not rare, but much more so than R. inundatus ; Lord Auckland's group, J. B. H. 
Much smaller than either of the foregoing, and at once recognized by the nearly entire broad 
leaflets. The Valdiviau R. stenopetalus, Hook. Ic. PI. t. 667, is the same species, I think. 
18. R. gracilipes, Hook.f., n. sp. Small, perfectly glabrous, slender. 
Stems creeping ? Leaves all radical, variable in size ; petioles slender, 1-4 
in. long ; blade pinnately divided, either pinnate, with 2-3 pairs of rounded, 
3-4-lobed, sessile leaflets, in. long, or Alternately divided with the leaf- 
lets petioled, wedge-shaped, deeply lobed, 1 in. long. Scapes 3-6 in. long, 
very slender, 1-flowered. Flowers f in. diam., golden-yellow. Sepals 
glabrous, oblong. Petals 8-10, twice as long, obovate-cuneate, retuse; de- 
pressed gland small, near the very base. 
Middle Island : banks of Lake Okau, Haast. A very distinct but variable species, 
with the habit and appearance of R. rivularis , but the leaves are pinnately divided. My 
specimens are very imperfect, and I place it in the creeping section from its resemblance to 
the preceding. 
19. R. pachyrrhizus, Hook.f., n. sp. Small, densely matted, very suc- 
culent. Scapes and petioles with long weak hairs. Stem prostrate, cylindri- 
cal, creeping, as thick as a goose-quill. Leaves very short, small, all radical ; 
petioles stout, fleshy, \ in. long; blade cuneate or obovate-cuneate, 
in. long, acutely lobed or cut. Scape short, stout, 1-flowered. Flowers f-1 
in. diam. Sepals linear-oblong, membranous. Petals 10-15, obovate-spa- 
thulate, bright yellow ; depressed gland near the base. Achenes not seen. 
Middle Island : Otago, Lake district, alt. 6-8000 ft., covering large tracts in low 
matted patches, Hector and Buchanan. A most curious little species, best known by its 
habit and habitat. 
20. R. parviflorus, Linn., var. australis, Benth. FI. Austral, i. 15. 
