Ranunculus auricomus

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Ranunculus auricomus
Ranunculus auricomus.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Ranunculus
Species:
R. auricomus
Binomial name
Ranunculus auricomus
L.

Ranunculus auricomus, known as goldilocks buttercup [1] or Greenland buttercup, [2] is a perennial species of buttercup native to Eurasia. It is a calcicole typically found in moist woods and at the margins of woods. It is apomictic, and several hundred agamospecies have been recognised. [1]

Contents

Description

Ranunculus auricomus is a short and slightly hairy perennial herb with bright yellow flowers. [3] [4] It can reach a height between 30–50 centimetres (20 in), and have as many as 10 palmately-lobed basal leaves. Its upper stem leaves are deeply divided into 3-5 narrow segments giving the plant a filiform appearance. [1] :114 Its flowers are frequently imperfect or missing, making it difficult to identify Ranunculus auricomus by flowers alone.

Distribution

Ranunculus auricomus is native to northern Europe and western Asia, approximately from latitudes 43 to 71 degrees and from western Ireland to the Ural Mountains. [5] In Britain it is generally a lowland species but has been recorded at 1,090 metres (3,580 ft) on Aonach Beag. [6] It is common in England and southern Scotland but becomes increasingly uncommon in the north and west, [4] so much so that, for example, it is named in the description of the Nature Reserve of Coed Garnllwyd in the Vale of Glamorgan. [7]

Habitat and ecology

Ranunculus auricomus is a perennial herb which is characteristic of deciduous woodland growing over base rich soils such as those underlain by chalk or limestone. In addition it has been recorded growing among scrub, along roadsides and in churchyards, and infrequently on open moorland in locations which are sheltered by boulders and on sheltered mountain ledges. [6] Flowering starts in April and peaks at the end of May and start of June, although these flowers attract pollinating insects the plant is incapable of being pollinated and reproduces by apomixis, the seeds developing from unfertilised ova. [3]

It has been hypothesized that since asexual reproduction in plants is associated with a lack of genetic recombinational variation in populations, this reduces the efficiency of selection against deleterious mutations. [8] This deficiency is considered to lead to the accumulation of mutations, a gradual increase in mutational load (Muller’s ratchet), and thus the rapid extinction of such asexual lineages. However apomictic, asexual R. auricomus appears to have overcome this limitation by having a little bit of sex. [8]

Taxonomy

Ranunculus auricomus is a species aggregation in which several hundred agamospecies, that is species which lack gametes, have been found with possibly a hundred or so in Britain alone. [9]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ranunculus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.

<i>Ranunculus repens</i> Species of plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculus repens, the creeping buttercup, is a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe, Asia and northwestern Africa. It is also called creeping crowfoot and sitfast.

<i>Ranunculus glacialis</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus glacialis, the glacier buttercup or glacier crowfoot, is a plant of the family Ranunculaceae. It is a 5-10(-20) cm high perennial herb. Often with a single relatively large flower, with 5 petals first white later pink or reddish. The underside of the 5 sepals are densely brown-hairy. The leaves are fleshy, shiny, and deeply loped, forming 3 leaflets. Ranunculus glacialis is reported to have a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 16.

<i>Ranunculus bulbosus</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculus bulbosus, commonly known as bulbous buttercup or St. Anthony's turnip, is a perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has bright yellow flowers, and deeply divided, three-lobed long-petioled basal leaves.

<i>Ranunculus acris</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculus acris is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, and is one of the more common buttercups across Europe and temperate Eurasia. Common names include meadow buttercup, tall buttercup, common buttercup and giant buttercup.

<i>Ranunculus flammula</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus flammula, the lesser spearwort, greater creeping spearwort or banewort, is a species of perennial herbaceous plants in the genus Ranunculus (buttercup), growing in damp places throughout the Boreal Kingdom. It flowers June/July. Ranunculus flammula is poisonous. It is very closely related to R. reptans, which is distinguished by prostrate and more slender stems, narrower leaves and smaller flowers and is sometimes included within R. flammula sensu lato as a variety.

<i>Ranunculus gmelinii</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus gmelinii, Gmelin's buttercup or small yellow water-crowfoot, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs across Canada and the northern and higher-elevation regions of the United States. It is also present in Eurasia.

<i>Ranunculus alismifolius</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus alismifolius is a species of buttercup known by the common name plantainleaf buttercup. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist mountain habitat such as meadows, streambanks, and bogs, becoming common to abundant in some places. It is somewhat variable in appearance and there are several varieties which can be hard to tell apart. In general the plant is a perennial herb producing a few usually upright to erect, branching stems from a fleshy, fibrous root system. It can be up to half a meter tall, or it can remain quite short and clumpy. The leaves vary in shape, the lower ones with oval blades and the upper linear to lance-shaped, all borne on long petioles. The inflorescence bears one or more flowers, each on a long pedicel. The flower has up to 12 yellow petals and many yellow stamens and pistils at the center. The fruit is an achene, borne in a spherical cluster of 12 or more.

<i>Ranunculus andersonii</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus andersonii is a species of buttercup known by the common name Anderson's buttercup. It is native to the western United States, including the Great Basin and surrounding regions, where it grows in sagebrush, woodlands, and other habitat. It is a perennial herb producing a basal rosette of thick leaves which are each divided into three double-lobed leaflets at the end of a petiole. The inflorescence arises from the rosette on an erect, leafless stalk usually no more than 20 centimeters tall. It bears one flower with usually five white or red-tinged petals each up to 2 centimeters long with white or pinkish sepals at the base. At the center of the flower are many yellow stamens and pistils. The fruit is an achene, borne in a spherical cluster of 14 or more. It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.

Ranunculus canus is a species of buttercup known by the common name Sacramento Valley buttercup. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the Central Valley and adjacent mountain foothills, and the Transverse Ranges just south. It grows in grassland and meadows in woodland and forest habitat. This plant can be very similar in appearance to the California buttercup, and may be difficult to distinguish from it. It is variable in form. In general the plant is a perennial herb producing erect, usually hairy stems up to 65 centimeters tall. The hairy leaves are each made up of three leaflets, leaves occurring lower on the plant with wider leaflets which may be notched to lobed, and upper leaves with narrow, toothed leaflets. The flower has up to 23 shiny yellow petals and many yellow stamens and pistils at the center. The fruit is an achene, borne in a spherical cluster of 11 or more.

<i>Ranunculus eschscholtzii</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus eschscholtzii is a species of buttercup flower known by the common name Eschscholtz's buttercup.

<i>Ranunculus flabellaris</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus flabellaris is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup genus, Ranunculus, known by the common name yellow water buttercup or the yellow water crowfoot. It is native to much of North America, including the southern half of Canada and most of the United States.

Ranunculus gormanii is a species of buttercup known by the common name Gorman's buttercup. It is native to Oregon and northern California, where it grows in the Klamath Mountains and a section of the southern Cascade Range. It can be found in moist areas in mountain forests and meadows. It is a perennial herb producing prostrate stems which extend along the ground up to 20 centimeters in length, sometimes rooting at nodes that come in contact with wet substrate. The leaves have oval blades up to 4 centimeters wide which are borne on petioles up to 7 centimeters in length. Flowers have 5 to 7 shiny yellow petals each a few millimeters long and many stamens and pistils. The fruit is an achene borne in a spherical cluster of up to 15.

Ranunculus orthorhynchus is a species of buttercup known by the common name straightbeak buttercup. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Utah, where it grows in moist areas in many types of habitat, including meadows and marshes.

<i>Ranunculus pusillus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus pusillus, commonly called low spearwort, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is native to much of the eastern United States from New York to Florida and west to Texas; it is also known in California. It grows in wet habitat, where it is semi-aquatic growing partially submerged or terrestrially on muddy substrates.

<i>Thalictrum alpinum</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Thalictrum alpinum is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family known by the common names alpine meadow-rue and arctic meadow-rue. It is native to Arctic and alpine regions of North America and Eurasia, including Alaska, northern Canada, and Greenland, and it occurs in cold, wet, boggy habitats in high mountains farther south.

<i>Ranunculus pedatifidus</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus pedatifidus is a species of buttercup known by the common names surefoot buttercup, northern buttercup, and birdfoot buttercup. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two varieties, var. pedatifidus occurring mostly in Asia and var. affinis mostly native to North America.

Ranunculus allenii, commonly known as Allen's buttercup, is a flowering plant in the crowfoot or buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Generally found in wetlands in northern latitudes, it bears yellow flowers in summer, which are pollinated by insects.

<i>Ranunculus arcticus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus arcticus, the birdfoot buttercup, is a species of buttercup in the family Ranunculaceae. It has a circumpolar distribution in Northern Europe, Northern Asia and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gunnar Marklund</span> Finnish botanist

Gunnar Marklund was a Finnish botanist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stace, Clive A. (2010). "Ranunculus L. – Buttercups". New Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press. pp. 110–119. ISBN   978-0-521-70772-5.
  2. USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Ranunculus auricomus". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Goldilocks Ranunculus auricomus group". LuontoPortti / NatureGate. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 "Goldilocks Buttercup agg. - Ranunculus auricomus agg.". NatureSpot. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. Anderberg, Arne. "Ranunculus auricomus (L.) Sw". Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, Stockholm. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Ranunculus auricomus". Online Atlas of British and Irish Flora. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  7. "Coed Garnllwyd" (PDF). Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  8. 1 2 Hojsgaard D, Hörandl E (2015). "A little bit of sex matters for genome evolution in asexual plants". Front Plant Sci. 6: 82. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2015.00082 . PMC   4335465 . PMID   25750646.
  9. "Ranunculus auricomus Goldilocks Buttercup". UK Wildflowers. Peter Llewellyn. Retrieved 25 March 2020.