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4407 RANUNCULACEAE. [ Ranunculus. 
13. R. tenuicaulis Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. xvi (1885) 235.— 
Very slender, erect, sparingly pilose or nearly glabrous, 4-181in. high. 
Rootstock nlenden, with numerous oe ST Leaves all radical, on 
slender petioles 2-6 in. long; blade $-I4in. diam., about reniform in 
outline, cut to the base into 3, rarely a broadly cuneate divisions, which 
are deeply and irregularly 2-3-lobed ; lobes narrow, often again toothed. 
Scape very slender, grooved, 1-flowered, usually with 2-3 simple or 
variously cut or lobed bracts about the middle. Petals 5, linear, acute. 
Achenes 5-20, loosely packed, spreading, shortly stipitate, fusiform, gradually 
narrowed into a long spirally recurved style—Z. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 
14; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 14. 
NortH Istanp: Tararua Mountains—Mount Holdsworth, Cockayne; Mount 
Hector, B. CO. Aston and Petrie! Soutrnu Isuanp: Nelson—Boundary Peak, W.v 
Townson. Canterbury — Mountains above Arthur’s Pass, 7. F. C. Otago— Ben 
Lomond, W. Wilcox ; Eyre Mountains, Poppelwell ; Garvie Mountains, Crosby Smith ; 
Swampy Hill, Lee Stream, Mount Kyeburn, Clinton Saddle, Petrie / 
A very curious species, remarkable for the fusiform achenes and long spirally 
recurved style. 
14. R. Haastii Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 6—A very remark- 
able stout fleshy or coriaceous glaucous plant, 2-6in. high, glabrous 
except the leaf-sheaths, which are usually villous with long hairs. Root- 
stock stout and fleshy, often 6in. long and as thick as the thumb, viscid 
and milky when bruised, horizontal, giving off numerous long and stout 
rootlets as thick as whipcord. Radical leaves 1 or 2; petioles stout, 
fleshy, tapering downwards, 2-6in. long; blade 2-4in. diam., broadly 
reniform or obicular in outline, palmately cut to the base into 5-7 deeply 
and irregularly incised and lobed segments. Scape very thick and fleshy, 
grooved when dry, naked below, furnished above with 1-3 sessile cauline 
leaves which are deeply cut into linear lobes, forming a leafy involucre 
to the flowers. Peduncles 1-3, barely exceeding the cauline leaves, 
1-flowered. Flowers 1-ldin. diam., yellow. Sepals 5, oblong, glabrous 
or nearly so, Petals 8-15, narrow-cuneate; gland single, basilar. Re- 
ceptacle swollen, papillose. Achenes forming a rounded head #in. diam., 
glabrous, turgid; style flattened, pointed, very broad at the base, the 
margins continued down the front and back of the achene as wings.— 
T. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 10; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 14. 
SourH Istanp: Bare shingle-slopes on the mountains, not uncommon from the 
south of Nelson (Wairau Valley) to Central Otago. Altitudinal range 3000-6000 ft. 
December—January. 
A very singular plant, quite unlike any other. I do not find that Otago specimens 
have their leaves less divided than those from Canterbury and Nelson, as stated by 
Kirk in ‘“‘ The Students’ Flora.” 
5. R. cerithmifolius Hook. f. Handb. N.Z. Fl. (1864) 6—Small, per- 
fectly glabrous, stout, fleshy, glaucous, stemless ; rootstock short, stout, 
sending down numerous fleshy rootlets. Leaves all radical, 2-4 in. long ; 
petiole $ the length, channelled, sheathing at the base. Lamina 14-3 in. 
diam., reniform in outline, biternately multifid; ultimate segments short, 
linear, ;'5in. long, obtuse. Seape stout, fleshy, erect, shorter than the 
leaves, 13 in. long, 1-flowered ; flower # in. diam. Sepals 5, linear-oblong. 
Petals 5, linear-obcuneate, slightly emarginate, each with a singular 
grandular pit at the base. Stamens numerous. Achenes 12-20, forming 
a rounded head 4in. diam.—T. Kirk Students’ Fl. (1899) 11; Cheesem. 
Man. N.Z. Fl. (1906) 15. 
