(Reprinted from NATURE, July 2, 1952.) 
A GENUS OF RANUNCULACEA® 
HITHERTO UNRECORDED FOR 
NEW ZEALAND . 
Dr. W. A. StEDGR, of the University of Leeds, who 
has recently brought home from New Zealand a collec- 
tion of dried plants, kindly allowed me to look through 
his surplus stock of species belonging to Ranunculus 
and to take what flowers I liked for examination, as 
I am especially interested in the petal of this genus, 
One species, Ranunculus tenuicaulis Cheesem., appealed 
to me particularly on his information that he had 
noticed it when growing to have reddish flowers. Red 
colouring is unusual among buttercups. 
On soaking out the two flowers available, I found 
on investigation that there was no sign of a double 
perianth. Thinking possibly that the sepals might 
have fallen, as these flowers were fully mature, 
Dr. Sledge supplied me with younger ones from 
his mounted sheet. These likewise showed a simple 
(monoseriate) perianth. Further, there was no indica. 
tion of any nectary on the perianth segment or 
tepal, to use a non-committal term. The petal of 
Ranunculus is invariably characterised by the posses- 
sion of such. The perianth, then, of this interesting 
plant is probably a petaloid calyx of five sepals. The 
small flower is borne singly on a short stalk arising 
from a whorl of three somewhat foliaceous bracts 
suggestive of the involucre of Anemone. The carpel 
is of a type quite unusual for Ranunculus, having 
a long spirally recurved style. The material at my 
disposal has scarcely been sufficient to ascertain 
definitely as to the exact manner in which the ovule 
is borne, but such evidence as has been obtained points 
strongly to a suspended rather than a basally attached 
one. Dr. Sledge has since satisfied himself that the 
ovule is suspended. 
The examination of these flowers, then, certainly 
rules out Ranunculus as the genus to which this plant 
belongs, and suggests that the Ranunculus tenuicaulis 
of Cheeseman may be a species of Anemone. At 
any rate, it is a member of a Ranunculaceous genus 
hitherto unrecorded for New Zealand. So far, the 
only genera of this attractive family occurring in 
these islands are Ranunculus itself, by far the largest 
