RANUNCULUS 
127 
Exsiccata: — Billot, 1104; Don, 1 1 5 ; Reichenbach, 1775 ; Herb. FI. Ingric. vi, 14. 
Perennial, aquatic or subaquatic herb, with rhizome. Submerged leaves with petioles about 
IO 12 cm. long; laminae ovate to oblong-ovate, cordate at the base, margin often rather wavy, 
apex obtuse, about 17 to 23 cm. long, usually disappearing before the flowering season begins. 
Aerial stem erect, hollow, glabrous or pubescent, 0-5— 1*5 m. high. Aerial leaves persistent, sessile; 
laminae linear-lanceolate, more or less amplexicaul at the base, subentire, acuminate, up to about 
25 cm. long and from ro — 37 broad. Inflorescence with about 2 — 3 flowers. Pedicels grooved. 
Flowers up to about 4cm. in diameter; June to August. Sepals hairy. Petals golden yellow, 
3 4 times as long as the sepals. Achenes compressed, very numerous, margined, with a pro- 
minent beak. 
We have not noticed any glabrous form ( 7 ?. lingua var. glabratus Wallroth Sched. Cnt. 288 (1822)) in this country 
where the plants conform to R. lingua var. hirsutus Wallroth loc. cit. 
Map 50. Distribution of R. lingua in the British Isles 
Local ; borders of lakes, ponds, and ditches, in places which are inundated at least in winter 
and early spring, and where the mineral-content of the water is high or fairly high ; from the 
Channel Isles, Cornwall, and Kent, northwards to Ross-shire ; widely distributed in Ireland. 
Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, central Europe, Russia, rare in 
southern Europe ; Asia. 
