Ranunculus
Ranunculus Temporal range:
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Eschscholtz's buttercup (Ranunculus eschscholtzii) | |
Scientific classification | |
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] | |
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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.
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 βάτραχος bátrakhos, "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
Plant
Buttercups are mostly
The leaves lack
Flowers
The
At the base of each petal is usually one
Reflective petals
The petals of buttercups are often highly
-
Glacier buttercup Ranunculus glacialis
-
Sagebrush buttercup (Ranunculus glaberrimus)
-
Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
-
Ranunculus asiaticus, a cultivated form
Fruit
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
Species
References
Notes
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b c "Ranunculus L." World Flora Online. World Flora Online Consortium. 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ Sunset Western Garden Book. 1995. pp. 606–607.
- ISSN 1055-7903.
- ^ "Ranunculales". www.mobot.org. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
- ^ .
- ^ Mai, Dieter Hans (2007). "The floral change in the tertiary of the Rhön mountains (Germany)". Acta Paleobotanica. 47 (1): 135–143.
- S2CID 235550327.
- ISSN 1476-4687.
- ^ PMID 28228540.
- ^ "Buttercups focus light to heat their flowers and attract insects". New Scientist. 25 February 2017.
- ^ 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
- ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879). "rānuncŭlus". A Latin Dictionary. Perseus Digital Library.
- ISBN 0299097048.
- JSTOR 41419689.
- ISBN 9780520097636.
- ISBN 9780295994284.
- .
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Ranunculus". Botanical Dermatology Database. Retrieved October 18, 2013.
- ^ Bateman, Stephanie (May 25, 2021). "Are buttercups poisonous to horses? We ask the experts…". Horse & Hound. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
General sources
- "GRIN Species Records of Ranunculus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Area. Retrieved 8 January 2008.
External links
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). 1911. .
- Jepson Manual treatment
- All about the Ranunculus Archived 2016-02-16 at the Wayback Machine
- The Ranunculus home page
- The Flower (Ranunculus) Fields of Carlsbad, CA