RANUNCULUS CRETICUS
Family and Genus:- See- RANUNCULACEAE/Subgen. RANUNCULUS/Sect.
Common Names:- Cretan buttercup
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Ranunculus (L) Little-frog, diminutive of rana, (reference to the water-
loving habit of many species).
Creticus (L) From Crete, Cretan.
General description:- Perennial, with a cluster of spindle-shaped root tubers 20-40
x 4-6 mm.
Leaves:-
1) Basal, few to several;
a) petiole, about twice as long as the lamina, patent-pilose.
b) lamina, 6-14 x 4-9 cm, reniform to subrbicular, shallowly (3-)5-lobed, crenate-
dentate.
2) Cauline, few, 3-fid.
Flowers:-
1) Bright yellow, from 25-40 mm Æ, joined together in clusters of 3-5.
2) Sepals, appressed, 7-10 mm, elliptic to broadly lanceolate, pilose, with a
scarious margin.
3) Petals, 1.5-2 times as long as the sepals, obovate, obtuse,
4) Receptacle, glabrous.
Fruit:-
1) Achenes, in a dense, ellipsoid to broadly cylindrical head 10-18 x 7-9 mm.
a) body, 3.5-4 mm, obliquely suborbicular, strongly compressed, winged,
smooth and glabrous, pale brown;
b) beak, short, usually hooked.
Key features:-
1) Basal leaves, lamina, 6-14 x 4-9 cm, reniform to subrbicular, shallowly (3-)5-
lobed.
2) Body of the achene, 3.5-4 mm, beak short, usually hooked.
Habitat:- Seasonally damp, rocky places, cliffs ledges, shady road embankments,
among boulders in gorges, generally on lime-stone. 0-1300 m.
Distribution:- Endemic Crete, Aegean and SW. Turkey. Fairly widespread across
Crete.
Flowering time:- Mar-Apr, occasionally later.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
Status:-
Protection status (for threatened species): Greek Presidential Decree 67/1981.
SPECIES DESCRIPTION
