134 
RANUNCULUS 
(/ 3 ) var. steveni forma parvulus comb. nov. ; R. acris var. ft Wahlenberg FI. Lapp. 159 (1812). 
leones : — Reichenbach loc. cit. fig. 4606 [bis], as R. parvulus. 
This is a dwarf northern and sub-Alpine state, not uncommon in central and northern Scotland. Frequently it is only 
1 -flowered. 
R. acris var. steveni is widely distributed in Great Britain, being recorded from Hampshire to Orkney. 
Apparently much commoner than var. multifidus in northern and central Europe. Naturalised in North 
America. 
R. acris is very common throughout the British Islands, especially on grassland, in open places 
in woods, on grassy road-sides, and in waste places; ascending to 1200m. in Perthshire. 
Europe, including the Faeroes and Iceland, ascending to 2530m. in the Tyrol; Asia; North 
America (introduced). 
9. RANUNCULUS BULBOSUS. Buttercup or Bulbous Crowfoot. Plate 139 
R. bulbosus Gerard Herball 806 (1597); Ray Syn. ed. 3, 247 (1724). 
Ranunculus bulbosus L. Sp. PI. 554 (1753); Smith Eng. Bot. no. 515 (1799)!; FI. Brit. 591 (1800); 
Syme Eng. Bot. i, 41 (1863); Rouy et Foucaud FI. France i, 105 (1893). 
leones : — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 515; Curtis FI. Lond. i, 107; Martyn FI. Rust. t. 28; Miller Illustr. t. 51 ; 
Reichenbach Icon, iii, t. 20 (Ranunc.), fig. 4611. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 139. (a) Lower, ( b ) middle, and ( c ) upper parts of a plant. ( d ) Lower leaf. 
(e) Head of achenes (enlarged). (/) Achenes (two enlarged). Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 2208, 2208 bis, 2208 ter, as R. bidbosus ; 3305, as R. sparsipilus ; Herb. FI. Ingric. x, 1913. 
Perennial. Roots fibrous. Rootstock swollen at the base into a “ bulb” or corm about 2'ocm. broad 
and 1 '5 high ; aerial stem erect, more or less hairy. Leaves with petioles much longer than the 
laminae, hairy ; laminae ternate ; pinnae pinnate or pinnatifid, sessile or shortly stalked ; lobes more or 
less divided. Peduncle grooved, up to about 1 dm. long. Receptacle rather hairy. Flowers about 
2‘5 — 3'o cm. in diameter; April to June, often the first of the common buttercups to come into 
flower. Sepals reflexed, rather caducous, hairy. Petals yellow. Plead of achenes subglobose. 
Achenes glabrous; beak short, a little curved. 
This is the buttercup par excellence of the alluvial pastures of southern England, turning them in the month of May into 
fields of gold. On chalk downs and on sand-dunes the plant is often very dwarfed and very hairy. 
Grassland, especially alluvial grassland (on which the plant is very vigorous) and calcareous 
grassland (where it is often dwarfed) ; northwards to Caithness-shire, but rare in northern and western 
Scotland, ascending to nearly 550m. in Perthshire; throughout Ireland. 
Europe (excl. northern and Arctic), ascending to 1900 m. in Switzerland; Asia; northern Africa; 
North America (introduced). 
10. RANUNCULUS ALEAE. Plate 139 bis 
Ranunculus aleae Willkomm in Linnaea xxx, 84 (1859); R. neapolitanus Godron FI. France i, 34 
(1848) non Tenore ; R. bidbosus var. neapolitanus Cosson Notes Crit. i, 3 (1848) non Fiori, excl. syn. Tenore ; 
R. bidbosus var. meridionalis [Levier ined., ex] Malinvaud in Bull. Soc. Bot. France xxx, p. cxcii (1883) ; R. bul- 
bosus subsp. aleae Rouy et Foucaud FI. France i, 106 (1893). 
leones : — Willkomm Illustr. PI. Hisp. i, t. 63 B et 64, as R. aleae. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 139 bis. (a) Whole plant, (b) Flower, (r) Part of petal with nectary (enlarged). 
(d) Stamens (enlarged), (e) Head of achenes. (/) Achenes (enlarged). Jersey (T. W. A.). 
Exsiccata : — Huter, Porta, et Rigo (Iter Hisp.), 939, as R. aleae forma laciniata. 
Closely allied to R. bulbosus from which it differs in the following characters : — Rootlets rather 
longer and stouter. Corm more feebly developed or almost entirely absent. Shoot branched from 
the base, branches wide-spreading or ascending. Pinnae of the radical leaves with longer petiolules ; 
of the upper leaves linear and more variable in length. Peduncles less grooved below. Receptacle 
more elongate. Buds large and hairy. Flowers about 3‘o cm. in diameter, usually rather larger 
than in R. bulbosus ; April and May. Petals more acute, pale yellow. 
Noticed by Mr Hunnybun in Jersey, where we had no difficulty in finding it in April, 1914. It is quite a feature in 
some places on the dunes there ; and it spreads some distance inland on the light, sandy soils. The paler tint of the flowers 
and the more patulous habit enable the botanist to distinguish it at a glance from R. bulbosus with which it grows, and with 
which we believe it forms hybrids. 
