Ranunculus

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Ranunculus
Temporal range: Late Eocene–present
Ranunculus eschscholtzii.jpg
Eschscholtz's buttercup ( Ranunculus eschscholtzii )
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Subfamily: Ranunculoideae
Tribe: Ranunculeae
Genus: Ranunculus
L.
Diversity
About 1,700 species
Synonyms [1] [2]
  • AphanostemmaA.St.-Hil.
  • Batrachium(DC.) Gray
  • BeckwithiaJeps.
  • CeratocephalaMoench.
  • GlossophyllumFourr.
  • KumlieniaGreene
  • LaccopetalumUlbr.
  • MyosurusL.

Ranunculus /ræˈnʌŋkjʊləs/ [3] is a large genus of about 1700 to more than 1800 species [1] [2] of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.

Contents

The genus is distributed worldwide, primarily in temperate and montane regions. [2] The familiar and widespread buttercup of gardens throughout Northern Europe (and introduced elsewhere) is the creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens , which has extremely tough and tenacious roots. Two other species are also widespread, the bulbous buttercup Ranunculus bulbosus and the much taller meadow buttercup Ranunculus acris . In ornamental gardens, all three are often regarded as weeds.

Buttercups usually flower in the spring, but flowers may be found throughout the summer, especially where the plants are growing as opportunistic colonizers, as in the case of garden weeds.

The water crowfoots (Ranunculus subgenus Batrachium), which grow in still or running water, are sometimes treated in a separate genus Batrachium (from Greek βάτραχοςbátrakhos, "frog"). They have two different leaf types, thread-like leaves underwater and broader floating leaves. In some species, such as R. aquatilis , a third, intermediate leaf type occurs.

Ranunculus species are used as food by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the Hebrew character and small angle shades. Some species are popular ornamental flowers in horticulture, with many cultivars selected for large and brightly coloured flowers.

Distribution

Buttercups are found in both hemispheres on all continents aside from Antarctica, and are primarily found in temperate or montane habitats. They likely originated in northern Eurasia during the late Eocene or Oligocene and rapidly radiated up to the present, dispersing worldwide. [4] [5] Fossil evidence suggests that despite no longer occurring there, they inhabited Antarctica up to the mid-late Pliocene, even while glaciations were rapidly altering the landscape. [6]

Fossil record

Ranunculus gailensis and Ranunculus tanaiticus seed fossils have been described from the Pliocene Borsoni Formation in the Rhön Mountains, central Germany. [7] Achenes labelled Ranunculus cf. tachiroei is known from the Pliocene of the Hengduan Mountains of China. [8] Indeterminate achenes have been found from Neogene strata from the Meyer Desert Formation biota in the Transantarctic Mountains, which appear to have inhabited a periglacial environment. [6] The oldest potential fossil is from the Late Eocene (initially identified as Miocene) Florissant Formation of Colorado, identified by Theodore Dru Alison Cockerell in 1922. [9]

Description

Flower of Ranunculus glaberrimus Ranunculus glaberrimus labelled.jpg
Flower of Ranunculus glaberrimus

Plant

Buttercups are mostly perennial, but occasionally annual or biennial, herbaceous, aquatic or terrestrial plants, often with leaves in a rosette at the base of the stem. In many perennial species runners are sent out that will develop new plants with roots and rosettes at the distanced nodes.

The leaves lack stipules, have petioles, are palmately veined, entire, more or less deeply incised, or compound, and leaflets or leaf segments may be very fine and linear in aquatic species.

Flowers

The hermaphrodite flowers are single or in a cyme, have usually five (but occasionally as few as three or as many as seven) sepals and usually, five yellow, greenish or white petals that are sometimes flushed with red, purple or pink (but the petals may be absent or have a different, sometimes much higher number).

At the base of each petal is usually one nectary gland that is naked or may be covered by a scale. Anthers may be few, but often many are arranged in a spiral, are yellow or sometimes white, and with yellow pollen. The sometimes few but mostly many green or yellow carpels are not fused and are also arranged in a spiral, mostly on a globe or dome-shaped receptacle.

Reflective petals

The petals of buttercups are often highly lustrous, especially in yellow species, owing to a special coloration mechanism: the petal's upper surface is very smooth causing a mirror-like reflection. [10] [11] The flash aids in attracting pollinating insects and temperature regulation of the flower's reproductive organs. [10]

Fruit

Seed head of Ranunculus showing developing achenes. Ranunculus achenes.jpg
Seed head of Ranunculus showing developing achenes.
Infrutescence of Ranunculus arvensis Ranunculus arvensis 3 RF.jpg
Infrutescence of Ranunculus arvensis

The fruits (in this case called achenes) may be smooth or hairy, winged, nobby or have hooked spines. [12]

Naming

The genus name Ranunculus is Late Latin for "little frog", the diminutive of rana. [13] This probably refers to many species being found near water, like frogs. [12]

The common name buttercup may derive from a false belief that the plants give butter its characteristic yellow hue[ citation needed ] (in fact it is poisonous to cows and other livestock). A popular children's game involves holding a buttercup up to the chin; a yellow reflection is supposed to indicate a fondness for butter. [14] In ancient Rome, a species of buttercup was held to the skin by slaves attempting to remove forehead tattoos made by their owners. [15] : 106 

In the interior of the Pacific Northwest of the United States, the buttercup is called "Coyote's eyes"—ʔiceyéeyenm sílu in Nez Perce [16] and spilyaynmí áčaš in Sahaptin. [17] In the legend, Coyote was tossing his eyes up in the air and catching them again when Eagle snatched them. Unable to see, Coyote made eyes from the buttercup.[ citation needed ]

Splitting of the genus

Molecular investigation of the genus has revealed that Ranunculus is not monophyletic with respect to a number of other recognized genera in the family—e.g. Ceratocephala, Halerpestes, Hamadryas , Laccopetalum , Myosurus , Oxygraphis , Paroxygraphis and Trautvetteria . A proposal to split Ranunculus into several genera has thus been published in a 2010 classification for the tribe Ranunculeae. [18] The split (and often re-recognized) genera include Arcteranthis Greene, Beckwithia Jeps., Callianthemoides Tamura, Coptidium (Prantl) Beurl. ex Rydb., Cyrtorhyncha Nutt. ex Torr. & A.Gray, Ficaria Guett., Krapfia DC., Kumlienia E. Greene and Peltocalathos Tamura. Not all taxonomists and users accept this splitting of the genus, and it can alternatively be treated in the broad sense.

Pharmacological activity

The most common uses of Ranunculus species in traditional medicines are as an antirheumatic, as a rubefacient, and to treat intermittent fever. The findings in some Ranunculus species of, for example, protoanemonin, anemonin, may justify the uses of these species against fever, rheumatism and rubefacient in Asian traditional medicines. [19]

Toxicity

All Ranunculus (buttercup) species are poisonous when eaten fresh, but their acrid taste and the blistering of the mouth caused by their poison means they are usually left uneaten. Poisoning in livestock can occur where buttercups are abundant in overgrazed fields where little other edible plant growth is left, and the animals eat them out of desperation. Symptoms of poisoning include bloody diarrhea, excessive salivation, colic, and severe blistering of the mouth, mucous membranes and gastrointestinal tract. When Ranunculus plants are handled, naturally occurring ranunculin is broken down to form protoanemonin, which is known to cause contact dermatitis in humans and care should therefore be exercised in extensive handling of the plants. [20] The toxins are degraded by drying, so hay containing dried buttercups is safe. [21]

Species

Related Research Articles

<i>Ficaria verna</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)

Ficaria verna, commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with bright yellow, glossy petals. Native to Europe and Western Asia, it is now introduced in North America, where it is known by the common name fig buttercup and considered an invasive species. The plant is poisonous if ingested raw and potentially fatal to grazing animals and livestock such as horses, cattle, and sheep. For these reasons, several US states have banned the plant or listed it as a noxious weed. It prefers bare, damp ground and is considered by horticulturalists in the United Kingdom as a persistent garden weed; nevertheless, many specialist plantsmen, nursery owners and discerning gardeners in the UK and Europe collect selected cultivars of the plant, including bronze-leaved and double-flowered ones. Emerging in late winter with flowers appearing late February through May in the UK, its appearance across the landscape is regarded by many as a harbinger of spring.

<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 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>Teucrium</i> Genus of flowering plants

Teucrium is a cosmopolitan genus of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae, commonly known as germanders. Plants in this genus are perennial herbs or shrubs, with branches that are more or less square in cross-section, leaves arranged in opposite pairs, and flowers arranged in thyrses, the corolla with mostly white to cream-coloured, lobed petals.

<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 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>Ficaria</i> Genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae)

Ficaria is a small genus of several species of plants in the family Ranunculaceae, which were previously grouped with Ranunculus. The genus includes Ficaria verna, known as fig buttercup or lesser celandine, and related species. The name "Ficaria" is Classical Latin for fig. Plants in the genus are closely related to true buttercups, but generally have only three sepals and swollen smooth achenes.

<i>Geranium bicknellii</i> Species of flowering plant

Geranium bicknellii is a species of geranium known by the common names Bicknell's cranesbill and northern cranesbill. It is native to much of the northern half of North America, where it can be found in a number of forest and woodland habitats. This is an annual or biennial herb which grows hairy stems up to about half a meter long. It may be erect or lie near the ground. Each leaf is several centimeters long and wide and is divided into several lobes, each of which may have smaller lobes or teeth. Flowers grow singly or in pairs and have pointed sepals and small lavender petals, each with a notch in the tip. The fruit has a rounded body with a long, straight style about 2 centimeters in length and tipped with a small beak.

Ranunculus crassipes is a small flowering plant in the buttercup or crowfoot family Ranunculaceae that is native to the subantarctic region. The specific epithet comes from the Latin and refers to the plant's thicker and more succulent form compared to the closely related R. biternatus.

<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.

<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>Beckwithia</i> (plant) Genus of flowering plants

Beckwithia is a genus of plants of the family Ranunculaceae. Most botanists consider it synonymous to a clade consisting of Ranunculus glacialis and Ranunculus andersonii. B. glacialis has several distinct forms that may also be considered subspecies or closely related species. However, molecular studies have supported the placement of B. glacialis and B. camissonis within Ranunculus, distant from B. andersonii.

<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 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 platanifolius</i> Species of herb

Ranunculus platanifolius, the large white buttercup, is a species of perennial herb of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) growing in mountains of Europe.

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

Ranunculus tripartitus 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.

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

Ranunculus adoneus, the alpine buttercup or snow buttercup, is a species of flowering plant. It is an alpine buttercup from the family Ranunculaceae. This species is mainly found in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming but can also be found in Idaho, northern Utah and eastern Nevada. Its typical habitat is short grass meadows near the edge of melting snow.

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

Ranunculus baudotii, brackish water-crowfoot, is a flowering plant in the Ranunculaceae. As the name suggests, it tends to grow near the sea, typically in pools and ditches in coastal marshes that are slightly salty due to sea spray. It can also be found inland where there is some saline influence. It is not edible and has economic uses, but it is generally valued as a plant of conservation interest and an indicator of less agriculturally improved habitat.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Ranunculus L., Sp. Pl. : 548 (1753)". Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ranunculus L." World Flora Online. World Flora Online Consortium. 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  3. ↑ Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. pp. 606–607.
  4. ↑ Emadzade, Khatere; Gehrke, Berit; Peter Linder, H.; Hörandl, Elvira (2011). "The biogeographical history of the cosmopolitan genus Ranunculus L. (Ranunculaceae) in the temperate to meridional zones". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 58 (1): 4–21. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.11.002. ISSN   1055-7903.
  5. ↑ "Ranunculales". www.mobot.org. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  6. 1 2 Ashworth, A; Cantrill, D (2004-10-07). "Neogene vegetation of the Meyer Desert Formation (Sirius Group) Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 213 (1–2): 65–82. Bibcode:2004PPP...213...65A. doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(04)00359-1.
  7. ↑ Mai, Dieter Hans (2007). "The floral change in the tertiary of the Rhön mountains (Germany)". Acta Paleobotanica. 47 (1): 135–143.
  8. ↑ Huang, Yong-Jiang; Zhu, Hai; Su, Tao; Spicer, Robert A.; Hu, Jin-Jin; Jia, Lin-Bo; Zhou, Zhe-Kun (September 2022). "Rise of herbaceous diversity at the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau: First insight from fossils". Journal of Systematics and Evolution. 60 (5): 1109–1123. doi:10.1111/jse.12755. ISSN   1674-4918. S2CID   235550327.
  9. ↑ Cockerell, T. D. A. (1922). "A Fossil Buttercup". Nature. 109 (2724): 42–43. doi:10.1038/109042b0. ISSN   1476-4687.
  10. 1 2 Van der Kooi, Casper; Elzenga, Theo; Dijksterhuis, Jan; Stavenga, Doekele (2017). "Functional optics of glossy buttercup flowers". Journal of the Royal Society Interface. 14 (127): 20160933. doi:10.1098/rsif.2016.0933. PMC   5332578 . PMID   28228540.
  11. ↑ "Buttercups focus light to heat their flowers and attract insects". New Scientist. 25 February 2017.
  12. 1 2 Lehnebach, C.A. (2008), Phylogenetic Affinities, Species Delimitation and Adaptive Radiation of New Zealand Ranunculus (PDF), Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-25, retrieved 2015-12-14
  13. ↑ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879). "rānuncŭlus". A Latin Dictionary. Perseus Digital Library.
  14. ↑ Edsall, Marian S. (1985). Roadside Plants and Flowers: A Traveler's Guide to the Midwest and Great Lakes Area: With a Few Familiar Off-Road Wildflowers . North Coast Books. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN   0299097048.
  15. ↑ Kamen, Deborah (2010). "A corpus of inscriptions: Representing slave marks in antiquity". Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. 55: 95–110. ISSN   0065-6801. JSTOR   41419689.
  16. ↑ Aoki, Haruo (1994). Nez Perce dictionary. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. pp. 641, 1007. ISBN   9780520097636.
  17. ↑ Rude, Noel (2014). Umatilla dictionary. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press. pp. 54, 275. ISBN   9780295994284.
  18. ↑ Emadzade, K.; Lehnebach, C.; Lockhart, P.; Hörandl, E. (2010). "A molecular phylogeny, morphology and classification of genera of Ranunculeae (Ranunculaceae)". Taxon . 59 (3): 809–828. doi:10.1002/tax.593011.
  19. ↑ Aslam, M.S.; Choudhari, B.S.; Uzair, M.; Ijaz, A.S. (2012). "The genus Ranunculus: A phytochemical and ethnopharmacological review". International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. 4 (5): 15–22.
  20. ↑ "Ranunculus". Botanical Dermatology Database. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
  21. ↑ Bateman, Stephanie (May 25, 2021). "Are buttercups poisonous to horses? We ask the experts…". Horse & Hound. Retrieved March 24, 2022.

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