Species

Ranunculus recens

Etymology

Ranunculus: From the Latin 'rana' frog, meaning little frog and probably refers to the plants typical marshy habit where frogs abound

Common Name(s)

None known

Current Conservation Status

2012 - Threatened - Nationally Vulnerable

Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2012 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2009 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, Paul D. Champion, Shannel P. Courtney, Peter B. Heenan, John W. Barkla, Ewen K. Cameron, David A. Norton and Rodney A. Hitchmough. File size: 792KB

Previous Conservation Status

2009 - At Risk - Declining
2004 - Gradual Decline

Qualifiers

2012 - RR, Sp, St
2009 - St, Sp

Authority

Ranunculus recens Kirk

Family

Ranunculaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Native

NVS Species Code

RANREC

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Synonyms

None

Distribution

Endemic to the North, South and Stewart Islands. In the North Island only known from one site in the Moawhango, and from the south Taranaki coastline. In the South Island known from North West Nelson, and the Otago and Foveaux Stait coastline. Local at Masons Bay on Stewart Island. Past records from the Chatham Islands remain unconfirmed and modern field surveys suggest they result from misidentification of seedlings of an complex of unnamed buttercups allied to R. foliosus and R. royi.

Habitat

Mainly coastal but also alpine in one North Island location. A species of turf and peaty soils developed over freshwater seepages.

Features

Tufted, non-rhizomatous herb forming small circular appressed patches 10-50 mm wide. Petiole broad, flat, usually hairy. Leaves yellow-green, dark green, sometimes blotched or entirely chocolate brown, ovate, 3-lobed to about 1.2 toward base, lobes crenate or shallowly pinnatifid, 8-15(-20) mm, sparsely hairy on margins or glabrous. Flowers solitary, 8-10 mm diam., sessile, or rarely on short hairy scapes. Sepals spreading, sparsely hairy. Petals 5, yellow, linear-oblong, nectary single, 0.5 mm from petal base, with very small scale. Receptacle hairy. achenes 30-60, somewhat flattened, glabrous, brick red with dark tips; beak curved 0.5 mm long.

Similar Taxa

A very distinctive plant not easily confused with any other indigenous or naturalised buttercup. It is not closely allied to R. ranceorum, which is a smaller plant of inland southern lake turfs, with quite different, smaller leaves, flowers and chromosome number. Although R. recens shows some distinctive variation with regard to leaf colour this does not seem to be, by itself, worthy of further taxonomic segregation.

Flowering

(September-)- October-November

Flower Colours

Yellow

Fruiting

October -January(-April)

Propagation Technique

Easy from fresh seed and remarkably tolerant of most soils and light levels provided plants are well watered. In humid climates plants suffer from powdery mildew.

Threats

A turf species most at risk from weeds and physical damage through trampling by stock and human traffic.

Chromosome No.

2n = 48

Endemic Taxon

Yes

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Where To Buy

Not commercially available.

Attribution

Fact Sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange (30 August 2003). Description based on Allan (1961), Webb et al. (1988) and fresh specimens - see also de Lange & Murray (2008).

References and further reading

Allan, H.H. 1961: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. I. Wellington, Government Printer

de Lange, P.J.; Murray, B.G. 2008: Ranunculus ranceorum, a new name and rank for Ranunculus recens var. lacustris G.Simpson, an elusive, rarely seen buttercup of the Fiordland lakes, South Island, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 46: 1-11.

Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.; Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1988: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. IV. Christchurch, DSIR Botany Division.

This page last updated on 14 May 2014