RANUNUCULUS 
150 
(7) var. droueti forma subaquaneus comb. nov. ; R. aquatilis var. subaquaneus Wahlenberg FI. Suec. ed. 2, 
ii, 1091 (1833); Batrachium aspergillifolium Dumortier 218 (1863); R. trichophyllus var. confervioid.es Hooker fil. 
Stud. FI. ed. 3, 6 (1884); R. trichophyllus var. demersus N. E. Brown in Eng. Bot. ed. 3, suppl., 12 (1891). 
leones : — Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 16 1. (a) Portion of plant. ( b ) Flower-buds (one enlarged), (c) Flowers 
(three enlarged), (d) Head of achenes (enlarged), (e) Achenes (enlarged). Forfarshire (R. H. C.). 
This is a small and slender plant, with narrow stipuloid sheaths, wholly submerged : it flowers and fruits under water. 
According to Sir J. D. Hooker {Stud. FI. ed. 3, p. 6), this “is the original R. aquatilis of Linnaeus’s Flora Lapponica .” 
It has, however, no claim to be regarded as the type of the Spec. Plant. The plant occurs in lochs in Perthshire, Forfarshire 
(e.g., Loch Rescobie, from which fresh specimens were kindly sent to us by Mr and Mrs Corstorphine, of Arbroath), and 
probably elsewhere in central and northern Scotland. The plants sent by the Corstorphines were almost destitute of stamens : 
is this their normal state? Judging from descriptions, it would appear to occur in Scandinavia, Belgium, and France. 
Possibly R. aquatilis var. cambricus Ar. Bennett is allied to this variety ; but, until fruits of Mr Bennett’s plant have been 
found, it is scarcely possible to offer any definite opinion on the matter. 
(S) var. droueti forma lutosus nobis. 
This is the mud-form or land-form of the var. droueti , and is not rare when the requisite habitat-conditions prevail. We 
have several times observed it in Cambridgeshire when the fen-ditches have recently been cleaned, and the mud thrown on 
the banks. It is, of course, almost impossible to distinguish it morphologically from the corresponding state of the var. rigidus. 
The var. droueti occurs throughout the British Isles, as far north as Orkney. 
Cosmopolitan. 
R. trichophyllus occurs in ponds and ditches, usually with a high mineral content ; locally 
abundant from the Channel Isles, Cornwall, and Kent northwards to Orkney ; common in the ditches 
of the Fen District, ascending to 300 m. in Perthshire; Ireland. 
Iceland, Scandinavia (northwards to 70° 15' N.), Denmark, Germany, ? Holland, Belgium, France, 
central Europe (ascending to 2580 m.), ? Russia, southern Europe; northern Africa; Asia; North 
America; Tasmania (? indigenous). 
R. aquatilis x trichophyllus (cf. p. 147). 
[7?. obtusiflorus X tvichophyllus nomen ; R. baudoti x droueti H. and J. Groves in Bot. Exch. Club 
Brit. Is., Rep. for 1893, i, 398 (1894) nomen; Hanbury and Marshall FI. Kent 8 (1899) nomen; J. Groves in 
Bot. Exch. Club Brit. Is., Rep. for 1901, i, 4 (1902) nomen. 
Specimens for which the above parentage was suggested were sent to the British Botanical Exchange Club as above.] 
23. RANUNCULUS CIRCINATUS. Plate 162 
R. aquaticus albus circmatus tenuissime diversis foliis floribus ex alis longis pediculis innixis Ray Syn. ed. 3, 
249 (1724). 
Ranunculus circinatus Sibthorp FI. Oxon. 175 (1794) excl. syn. L. 1 2 ; Babington in Ann. Nat. Hist. 
ser. 2, xvi, 401 (1855)!; Syme Eng. Bot. i, 16 (1863); R. aquatilis var. /3 L. Sp. PI. 556 (1753); R. aquatilis 
Weber in Wiggers FI. Holsat. 42 (1780) partim, non Godron ; R. foeniculaceus' 1 [Gilibert FI. Lithuan. v, 261 
(1782);] Rouy et Foucaud FI. France i, 70 (1893); R. aquatilis var. circinatus Withering Arr. Brit. PI. ed. 3, 
ii, 507 (1796); R. aquatilis var. 7 Smith FI. Brit. 596 (1800)!; R. stagnatilis Wallroth Sched. Crit. 285 (1822); 
R. hydrocharis form circmatus Hiern op. cit. 99 (1871). 
leones: — Babington in Eng. Bot. Suppl. t. 2869; FI. Dan. t. 2236; Reichenbach, iii, t. 2, t. 4575. 
Camb. Brit. FI. iii. Plate 162. (a — c ) Fertile branches, (d) Flower, (e) Achenes (enlarged). Cambridge- 
shire (E. W. H.). 
Exsiccata : — Billot, 901, as R. divaricatus ; Wirtgen, ix, 434, as B. divaricatum ; xiii, 728, as B. divaricatum 
var. grandiflorum ; Woloszczak, 606. 
Perennial. Shoot remaining evergreen throughout the winter. Branches usually all submerged, 
erect or suberect, 1 — 5 dm. long, lower internodes usually very long. Submerged leaves divaricate, 
sessile, lower ones persisting throughout the winter ; sheaths, small, appressed, not auricled, subciliate, 
1 As pointed out by Williams (in Journ. Bot. xlvi, 15 (1908)), it is obvious that by “var. 7 L.” Sibthorp meant “var. /? L.,” 
as shown by his reference to Ray and therefore by implication to Plukenet’s figure in Almag. Bot. 
2 “ Habitus praecedentis [W. peucedanifolius Gilibert = R. fluitans\ sed foliola capillacea divergentia, breviora, et flos minor ” 
(Gilibert loc. cit.). 
