Ranunculus parviflorus L.
small-flowered buttercup
Annual; roots all fibrous. Stems moderately slender, sprawling to sub-erect, sparsely hairy, (5)-10-30-(45) cm tall. Basal lvs subcircular, 3-5-lobed to about 1/2 way, 1-3 × 1-4 cm; lobes obovate, cuneate, dentate to crenate, hairy; petioles hairy, (2)-3-8-(15) cm long. Cauline lvs similar to basal but segments becoming lanceolate, entire; uppermost lvs sometimes not lobed, lanceolate, entire. Fls many per stem, 3-6 mm diam. Pedicels erecto-patent, glabrous or hairy, terete, 8-40 mm long at fruiting. Sepals 5, hairy, suberect, obtuse, c. 2 mm long. Petals 5, yellow, obovate-spathulate, 1.5-2 × c. 1 mm; nectary single, 0.5-1 mm from petal base, covered by an obtuse scale. Receptacle glabrous. Achenes (5)-10-20, strongly flattened, bordered, broadly ovate to subcircular; body 2-2.5 × c. 2 mm; face densely covered with short hooked spines; beak curved at tip, 0.5-0.7 mm long.
N.: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Manawatu, Wairarapa, Wellington; S.: Nelson, Marlborough, Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Fiordland; Ch.
Mediterranean, W. Europe 1867
Waste land, tussock grassland and scrub, grassy ground under trees, gardens.
Possibly poisonous (Connor 1977).
