RANUNCULUS 
139 
leones: — Smith Eng. Bot. t. 2003; Curtis FI. Lond. ii, t. no; FI. Dan. t. 321; Svensk Bot. t. 673; 
Reichenbach Icon, iii, t. 2, fig. 4573. 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 2604 et 2604 bis; Durieu, 414; Fries, ii, 43; v. Heurck et Martinis, iv, 152; Huter, 
934 ; Welwitsch {FI. Lusit.), 664. 
Perennial. Branches about 1 — 4 dm. long, rooting at the nodes. Sheaths not or scarcely 
auricled, adnate, longer than broad. Petioles about 2 — 4 times as long as the laminae. Laminae 
simple, subcordate, with 3 — 5 lobes, lobes broadest at the base, basal sinus usually wide, margin 
entire or crenulate, often with purplish blotches, often about 3 cm. long and 2 broad. Pedicels 
shorter than the mature petioles. Flowers o - 4 — ro cm. in diameter; May to August. Petals usually 
as long as or a little longer than the sepals, not contiguous. Stamens about 5 — 10. Stigma lateral. 
Achenes small, about 15 — 20 on each receptacle, the inner side nearly straight; beak rudimentary. 
( 0 ) forma natans nobis ; R. hydrocharis form homo'iophyllus Hiern op. cit . ; R. hederaceus var. homoiophyllus 
auct. plur. ; non R. homoiophyllus Tenore loc. cit. nec R. coenosus Gussone loc. cit. 
leones : — Camb. Brit. Ft. iii. Plate 14.4. Huntingdonshire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata: — Reichenbach, 1490, as R. hederaceus ; Welwitsch {FI. Lusit.), 664, as R. hederaceus ; Wirtgen, 
x, 546, as Batrachium hederaceum var. fluitans. 
This is the water-form or floating-form of the species. It is a larger plant than the mud-form or the form of shallow 
water, has longer rootlets and stems, larger leaves and flowers. It is widespread in the British Isles ; and, in the drier 
parts of the country, e.g., East Anglia and the Channel Isles, it is met with more often than the mud-form or so-called 
“ type.” The plant is, nomenclatorially at least, often confused with the following species. 
On wet mud, in small streams, ditches, and ponds, usually in shallow water ; preferring non- 
calcareous soil and water rather poor in mineral-content ; throughout the British Isles, but local or 
rare in eastern England. 
Iceland, Scandinavia, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, south-western Europe; 
North America (not indigenous). 
16. RANUNCULUS HOMOIOPHYLLUS. Plates 145; 146 
Ranunculus homoiophyllus Tenore. FI. Nap. iv, 328 (1830); Moss in Journ. Bot. Iii, 118 (1914); 
R. hederaceus Tenore olim ; Gussone PI. Rar. 219 (1826); excl. omn. syn. ; R. coenosus Gussone Suppl. Ft. Sic. 
Prodr. fasc. i, 187 (1834)!; Godron in Grenier et Godron FI. France i, 19 (1848)!; Borrer in Hooker and 
Arnott Brit. FI. ed. 6, 8 (1850); Babington Man. ed. 3, 7(1851)!; in Ann. Nat. Hist. ser. 2, 403 (1855)!; R. 
lenormandi Schultz in Bot. Zeit. xx, 726 (1837)!; Godron in Mlm. Soc. Roy. Nancy 14 (1840); Babington in 
Ann. Nat. Hist, xvi, 141 (1845)!; Syme Eng. Bot. i, 28 (1863)!; Rouy et Foucaud FI. France i, 60 (1893); 
R. reniforme Desportes FI. Sarthe et Mayenne 3 (1838) ; R. hederaceus var. grandiflorus Babington Man. 5 
(1843)!; Batrachium coenosum Schultz in Arch. FI. France et A Item. 70 (1844)!; R. hydrocharis form lenormandi 
Hiern op. cit. 66 (1871)! 
leones: — Babington in Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2930, as R. lenormandi ; Dreves et Hayne PI. d' Eur. t. 106, as 
R. hederaceus. 
Exsiccata : — E. et A. Huet {PI. Sic.), as R. coenosus) Lenormand (in Herb. Univ. Cantab.), as R. lenormandi ; 
Lojacono {PI. Sic. Rar.), 247, as R. coenosus ; Schultz {FI. Gall, et Germ.), 1001 bis, as B. coenosum-, Schultz et 
Winter {H. N.), i, 5, as B. lenormandi ; Todaro {FI. Sic.), 262, as R. coenosus. 
Perennial. Branches rooting at the nodes. Sheaths broader than in R. hederaceus. Petioles , 
when mature, usually much longer than the laminae. Laminae simple, reniform to suborbicular, 
relatively less broad than in R. hederaceus, basal sinus often narrow, with 3—5 lobes ; lobes constricted 
at the base. Peduncles shorter than the mature petioles. Flowers larger than in R. hederaceus , 
it> — 1 '6 cm. in diameter ; chiefly April to July, but not infrequently during mild weather in mid-winter. 
Petals rather acute, about twice as long as the sepals, not contiguous. Stamens about 10. Stigma 
placed subcentrally. Achenes about 30 — 60, convex on the inner side, beaked. 
This species is closely allied to R. hederaceus , and is best distinguished from it by the lobes of its laminae being constricted 
at the base : in R. hederaceus the lobes are widest at the base. The size of the flowers varies in both species a great deal according 
to the habitat-conditions. Unfortunately, many systematic botanists have, in the past, been content to describe only what they have 
arbitrarily regarded as the “ type ” of a species, and have often disregarded all forms which they chose to look upon as deviations 
from this “type.” The result has been that the unsophisticated field-botanist, who often meets with the deviations from the 
so-called “type,” is frequently bewildered. We frankly confess that we ourselves are frequently unable to determine what the 
type of a species is, although it is often possible (by a study of authentic descriptions, specimens, and figures) to determine 
18 — 2 
