Ranunculus tripartitus

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Ranunculus tripartitus
Ranunculus tripartitus flower.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. tripartitus
Binomial name
Ranunculus tripartitus
DC.

Ranunculus tripartitus (three-lobed crowfoot) is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, which grows in pools and muddy hollows in coastal parts of Europe, North Africa and West Asia. It is rare and endangered throughout its range, and is considered to be an indicator of favourable environmental conditions.

Contents

Description

Ranunculus tripartitus is a procumbent annual to perennial herbaceous plant that grows in shallow water and on exposed mud or peat. Under water it has finely divided, thread-like submerged (capillary) leaves. Floating on the surface, or growing on exposed mud, it has flat, deeply-lobed laminar leaves. Sometimes both leaf shapes are present on the same plant, but intermediate leaves are rare. The laminar leaves are reniform overall, divided more than half-way into three (rarely 5) lobes which are broadest towards the tip, and which are themselves shallowly indented (crenate) at the end. They are 0.5 - 1.5 cm across, with the middle lobe narrower than the side ones. The submerged leaves are 1 – 4 cm long, divided up to 5 times, with sometimes as many as 90 terminal segments. The leaves are opposite or alternate along stems that can be up to 50 cm long, with small stipules at the base of the petiole, which can be between 1 and 10 mm long. The stems and leaves are glabrous (hairless). [1] [2] [3]

The actinomorphic flowers are borne singly on long stalks (pedicels) from the leaf axils. Each flower has 5 petals and 5 sepals. The petals are white with a yellow patch towards to base, up to 4.5 mm long, and there is a small space between them. Towards the base of each petal is a small crescent-shaped nectar pit. The sepals are up to 3 mm long, green with a blue tip, and recurved towards the flower stalk. There are 5 - 8 stamens and numerous (more than 6) carpels. The receptacle is hairy. [4] The fruits are hairless and, as they develop, the pedicel becomes recurved.

Ranunculus tripartitus winter.jpg Ranunculus tripartitus fruit.jpg
Submerged capillary leaves and terrestrial laminar leaves of three-lobed crowfoot

Taxonomy

Ranunculus tripartitus is included in the taxonomically difficult subgenus (or "section") Batrachium of the buttercup family, which includes all the water-crowfoots. They are aquatic or amphibious species, with white petals, transversely ridged achenes (fruits), and stipules at the base of the leaf stalk. It can be separated from other members of the section by the three-lobed laminar leaves, the petals being about twice as long as the sepals and not contiguous, the reflexed pedicel and the hairy receptacle. [3]

It was described by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1808. The type specimen, which was thought to be in Paris, is missing, so the plate and description in de Candolle's "Icones Plantarum" [5] has been designated a typotype. Ranunculus petiveri W.D.J. Koch, which was later found in Germany, and Batrachium lutarium Revel (France) are considered to be the same species. [3]

There are no subspecies of R. tripartitus, but it does form hybrids with other species in the section, including R. omiophyllus (=R. × novae-forestae S.D. Webster) (which is only known in Britain); common water-crowfoot (also only in Britain); and R. ololeucos (= R. × felixii Segret) (only in France). A key feature for the identification of hybrids is the presence of leaves that are intermediate between the capillary and laminar forms; such plants are also sterile. [1] [3]

The chromosome number of R. tripartitus is 2n = 48. [1]

Distribution

This is primarily a European plant, although it has been reported as far east as Turkey and as far south as Morocco, so it is perhaps present on three continents. Owing to the difficulty of identifying species in the section Batrachium, there is some uncertainty about its range. For example, the Turkish plants were recorded as R. kastamonuensis. It may occur on the Aegean Islands, but this is also unconfirmed. In all parts of its range, R. tripartitus is considered to be rare and possibly endangered. [3]

In Britain, it was first recorded (as R. innominatus) by C.C. Babington in 1848, "near Claremont House, Surrey", [6] an area now known as Esher Commons. It still occurs in this part of the country. The other main populations in Britain are in the heaths of Sussex and Kent, the New Forest, the Lizard peninsula, Pembrokeshire and Anglesey. [7] Because populations fluctuate dramatically, it is difficult to assess its conservation status. In 1962 [8] it was thought to be present in 28 places (10 x 10 km squares) on the map. This had shrunk to 19 by 1987, [9] as low as 10 by 1999, [10] and back up to 27 by 2002. [7] Given a Change Index [11] of -1.09, it narrowly missed being classed as one of the 100 least successful plants in the British Isles. [7]

Ecology

The habitat of R. tripartitus is in shallow pools and muddy hollows in heathland. It requires high levels of moisture and light, and low levels of nutrients. In Britain it is considered an axiophyte wherever it occurs, and it has been described as a useful bioindicator in the Mediterranean region. [12] In the Doñana National Park in Spain, it is found in species-rich ponds of special conservation value. [13] Although it is typically found in coastal areas, it is not tolerant of saline conditions. [14] Its Ellenberg values in Britain are L = 9, F = 10, R = 6, N = 3, and S = 0. [15]

Disturbance, such as trampling and grazing by livestock, is an important factor in its conservation. [16]

It is mainly a lowland plant, recorded only as high as 300 m in Britain, at Belstone in Devon (by William Keble Martin in 1934). [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranunculaceae</span> Family of eudicot flowering plants

Ranunculaceae is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide.

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

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 1700 to more than 1800 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 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 sceleratus</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus sceleratus known by the common names celery-leaved buttercup, celery-leaf buttercup, and cursed buttercup is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere, native to temperate and boreal North America and Eurasia, where it grows in wet and moist habitats, including ponds and streambanks.

<i>Montia fontana</i> Species of flowering plant

Montia fontana, commonly known as blinks or water blinks, water chickweed or annual water miner's lettuce, is a herbaceous annual plant of the genus Montia. It is a common plant that can be found in wet environments around the globe, from the tropics to the Arctic. It is quite variable in morphology, taking a variety of forms. It is sometimes aquatic.

<i>Stellaria neglecta</i> Species of flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae

Stellaria neglecta, greater chickweed, is an annual to short-lived herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Europe and Asia, where it grows in hedges and woodland margins on neutral to slightly acid, damp soils, and is widespread but rarely abundant. It has been introduced to North America, where it has been spreading in recent decades.

<i>Stellaria apetala</i> Species of flowering plant in the carnation family Caryophyllaceae

Stellaria apetala, lesser chickweed, is an annual herbaceous plant in the flowering plant family Caryophyllaceae. It occurs in short, sandy grassland by the sea and, less often, in similar habitat inland. It is native to Europe and is well established as an introduced species worldwide.

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 abortivus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus abortivus is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Its common names include littleleaf buttercup, small-flower crowfoot, small-flowered buttercup, and kidneyleaf buttercup. It is widespread across much of North America, found in all ten Canadian provinces as well as Yukon and the Northwest Territories, and most of the United States, except Hawaii, Oregon, California, and parts of the Southwest.

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

Ranunculus trichophyllus, the threadleaf crowfoot, or thread-leaved water-crowfoot, is a plant species in the genus Ranunculus, native to Europe, Asia and North America.

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

Ranunculus cortusifolius, also known as the Azores buttercup or Canary buttercup, is a plant species in the genus Ranunculus, family Ranunculaceae, the buttercup or crowfoot family. It grows on moister sites throughout the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands but is widely cultivated elsewhere as an ornamental. There are reports of it having become naturalized in parts of California.

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

Ranunculus acaulis, in Australia and New Zealand called dune buttercup, sand buttercup or shore buttercup, is a yellow-flowered, small, fleshy herb, that grows in mats in damp places mostly near the sea. It occurs naturally in Australia, New Zealand, Chile and the Falklands. It flowers between August and April and sets seed from September till July.

<i>Ranunculus pinguis</i> Perennial plant from New Zealand

Ranunculus pinguis is a dark green, fleshy-leaved buttercup with relatively large, short-stalked flowers and narrow stiff yellow petals that grows in tufts. It is an endemic species of New Zealand on the Auckland and Campbell Islands that flowers from December to January and sets seeds between February and April.

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

Ranunculus hispidus is a species of perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is commonly known as bristly buttercup or hispid buttercup. It is a small plant native to central and eastern North America that grows to a height up to 30 cm (1 ft) and has 5-petaled yellow flowers.

<i>Oenanthe aquatica</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenanthe aquatica, fine-leaved water-dropwort, is an aquatic flowering plant in the carrot family. It is widely distributed from the Atlantic coast of Europe to central Asia.

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

Ranunculus allegheniensis is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Its common names include Allegheny Mountain buttercup and Allegheny crowfoot.

<i>Cicendia filiformis</i> Species of flowering plants

Cicendia filiformis, also called yellow centaury or slender cicendia, is a species of flowering planet of the family Gentianaceae.

<i>Oenanthe fluviatilis</i> Species of flowering plant

Oenanthe fluviatilis, the river water-dropwort, is a flowering plant in the carrot family, Apiaceae, which is endemic to north-west Europe. It grows only in clear, unpolluted rivers and is declining throughout its range.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stace, C.A. (2019). New Flora of the British Isles. Suffolk. ISBN   978-1-5272-2630-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ↑ Poland, John; Clement, Eric (2009). The Vegetative Key to the British Flora. Southampton: John Poland. ISBN   978-0-9560144-0-5.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Wiegleb, Gerhard; Bobrov, Alexander; Galosz, Joanna (2017). "A taxonomic account of Ranunculus section Batrachium (Ranunculaceae)". Phytotaxa. 319 (1): 1–55. doi:10.11646/phytotaxa.319.1.1.
  4. ↑ National Museum of Wales. "Ranunculus tripartitus" (PDF). Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  5. ↑ de Candolle, Augustin (1808). Icones plantarum Galliæ rariorum aut nondum delineatarum. Paris.
  6. ↑ Clarke, W.A. (1900). First Records of British Flowering Plants. London: West, Newman & Co.
  7. 1 2 3 Preston, C.D.; Pearman, D.A.; Dines, T.D. (2002). New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  8. ↑ Perring, F.H.; Walters, S.M. (1962). Atlas of the British Flora. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
  9. ↑ Stewart, A.; Pearman, D.A.; Preston, C.D. (1987). Scarce Plants in Britain. Peterborough: JNCC.
  10. ↑ Wigginton, M.J. (1999). British Red Data Books 1 Vascular plants. Peterborough: Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
  11. ↑ Telfer, M.G. (2003). "Change index: a measure of change in range size that is independent of changes in survey effort". Proc. 13th Int. Coll. EIS: 107–110.
  12. ↑ Lumbreras, Ana (2013). "Bioindicator role of aquatic Ranunculus in Mediterranean freshwater habitats". Aquatic Conservation. 23 (4): 582–593. Bibcode:2013ACMFE..23..582L. doi:10.1002/aqc.2327.
  13. ↑ Diaz-Paniagua, Carmen (2010). "Tempora[r]y ponds from Donana National Park: a system of natural habitats for the preservation of aquatic fora and fauna" (PDF). Limnetica. 29 (1): 41–58. doi:10.23818/limn.29.04. hdl:11441/34396. S2CID   245799706.
  14. ↑ iNaturalist UK. "Three-lobed Crowfoot".
  15. ↑ Hill, M.O.; Mountford, J.O.; Roy, D.B.; Bunce, R.G.H. (1999). Ellenberg's indicator values for British plants. ECOFACT Volume 2. Technical Annex (PDF). Institute of Terrestrial Ecology. ISBN   1870393481 . Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  16. ↑ Scott, Amanda (2012). "Artificial disturbance promotes recovery of rare Mediterranean Temporary Pond plant species on the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, England". Conservation Evidence. 9: 79–86.
  17. ↑ Pearman, D.A. "Altitudinal Limits of British Plants, 2021".
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