126 
RANUNCULUS 
Camb. Brit. FL iii. Plate 126. (a) Plant in flower. (b) Leaf. Worcestershire (S. H. B.). Plate 12J. 
(a) Lower part of plant. (b) Leaves. ( c ) Terminal part of inflorescence. ( d ) Flowers, (e) Ripening fruit. 
(/) Mature fruit. ( g ) Achenes (two enlarged). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 208; Schultz (H. N.), i, 4, as R. ficaria var. parviflorus forma incumbens ; vii, 4 bis, as 
R. ficaria var. incumbens ; Todaro, 1 376 ; Herb. FI. Ingric. i, 22. 
A perennial geophyte. Roots — some fibrous, some tuberous ; tubers with a bud at the apex, 
which gives rise to new plants. Shoot (in forma luxurians) up to 3 dm. high. Petioles of the 
lower leaves several times longer than the laminae, with sheathing bases. Laminae cordiform, 
more or less cordate at the base, basal lobes diverging to overlapping, margin subentire to irre- 
gularly crenate, apex obtuse, up to about 2*5 — 5 - o cm. long and 3 — 8 broad. Bracts leaf-like, in 
opposite pairs, supernumerary alternate ones sometimes above, sometimes with tubers in the axils. 
Inflorescence a trifarious cyme. Pedicels grooved, long (up to i‘5 dm. in forma luxurians ). Re- 
ceptacle glabrous. Flowers up to 3^0 — 3 - 5 cm. in diameter; February to May. Sepals 3 — 4, yellowish- 
green, somewhat scarious. Nectar-leaves or petals about 6 — 10, usually 7 — 8, greenish on the outside, 
golden yellow on the inside. Stamens 00. Achenes about 15 — 20, somewhat hairy, up to 4 — 5 mm. 
long and 2 — 3 broad, often not formed. 
Our Plate 126 represents the so-called var. incumbens , and Plate 127 the so-called var. decumbens-. the difference between 
the two is seen in the basal lobes of the laminae, and seems to be due to soil-conditions. 
(, 8 ) forma luxurians nobis. 
leones : — Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 128. (a) Portion of a plant in flower, (b) Leaves, (c) Fruiting 
branch. ( d ) Achenes (three enlarged). Jersey (S. G.). 
Larger than the common form in all its parts. Shoot up to 3 dm. high. Aerial stem up to 
5 mm. in diameter. Petioles of the lower leaves about ro — 2^5 dm. long, basal sheaths very large. 
Laminae up to 5'o cm, long (excluding the basal lobes) and 8 broad. Pedicels up to i‘5 dm. in 
diameter. Achenes about 4 — 5 mm. long and 2 — 3 broad. 
Damp places in shady lanes and orchards near St Aubyn, Jersey, and probably elsewhere. 
Very common ; damp woods, hedgerows, stream-sides, and grassland, and as a weed in damp 
gardens; throughout the British Isles, ascending to 730 m. in Wales. 
Europe (except the Arctic region), ascending to 1630m. in the Tyrol; south-western Asia; 
North America (not indigenous). 
Section II. FLA MMULA 
Flammula [Webb ex] Spach Hist. Nat. Veg. Phanerog. vii, 208 (1839) as a subgenus; Rouy et Foucaud 
FI. France i, 82 (1893); cf. Flammulae Prantl in Engler’s Bot. Jahrb. ix, 267 (1888). 
For characters, see page 125. 
British species of Flammula 
2. R. lingua (see below). Perennial. Laminae of aerial leaves rather acuminate. Pedicels 
not grooved. Flowers large (about 3 — 4 cm. in diameter). Achenes compressed, smooth, beak broad. 
3. R. flammula (p. 128). Perennial. Laminae acute or rather obtuse. Pedicels grooved. 
Flowers small (up to about 2 cm. in diameter). Achenes inflated, smooth, beak narrow. 
4. R. ophioglossifolius (p. 129). Biennial or ? perennial. Laminae of lower leaves subor- 
bicular, of the upper ones rather acute. Pedicels grooved. Flowers small, about o‘5 — 1*3 cm. in 
diameter. Achenes compressed, tuberculate, beak rudimentary. 
2. RANUNCULUS LINGUA. Greater Spearwort. Plate 129 
R. flammeus major Gerard Herball 814 (1597); Johnson Kent 31 (1632); Ray Syn. ed. 3, 250 (1724). 
Ranunculus lingua L. Sp. PI. 549 (1753)!; Smith Eng. Bot. no. 100 (1793)!; FI. Brit. 588 (1800); 
Syme Eng. Bot. i, 35 (1863); Rouy FI. France i, 82 (1893). 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 100; FI. Dan. t. 755; Reichenbach Icon, iii, t. x, fig. 4595 (right-hand 
figure). (All three figures belong to the var. hirsutus Wallroth loc. cit.) Roper in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxi, t. 13 
(submerged leaves). 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 129. (a) Lower part of plant. ( b , c, d ) Portions of stem. ( e , f) Uppermost 
portions of stems in flower and fruit. ( g ) Achenes (two enlarged). Cambridgeshire (C. E. M.). 
