The Family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculaceae

The family include about 35 genera and 1500 species distributed in temperature and colder regions of the world. The family includes many common plants such as Ranunculus (buttercup), Caltha (marsh marigold), Clematis, Anemone, Thalictrum (mamira), Delphinium (larkspur), Nigella (kala zira) and Aconitum (monkshood).

Distinguishing Features:

Mostly herbs with simple leaves, flower hypogynous with free sepal and petals, stamens indefinite and free, carpels indefinite, apocarpous, fruit an aggregate.

Ranunculus muricatus (Buttercup) Crow foot:

Habitat:

A common erect annual herb found abundantly in plains that flowers during February-April. Ranunculus sceleratus is commonly found near water.

Root:

Tap root, short lived, replaced by adventitious roots.

Stem:

Herbaceous, green, erect, cylindrical, fistular, glabrous and branched.

Leaf:

Radical leaves with long petioles, cauline and ramal, alternate, leaf base sheeting, simple palmatifid, exstipulate, reticulate multicostate, glabrous, herbaceous.

Inflorescence:

Simple, solitary terminal or solitary axillary.

Flower:

Pedicellate, bracteate, bisexual, complete, actinomorphic, hypogynous, hemicyclic, yellow.

Calyx:

5 Sepals, polysepalous, yellowish green, slightly petaloid, caduceus, inferior.

Corolla:

5 Petals, polypetalous, obovate, yellow, each petal having a pocket shaped nectary at the base, inferior.

Androecium:

Stamens, indefinite, polyandrous, spirally arranged filaments long and anthers elongated, basifixed, adnate, inferior.

Gynoecium:

Polycarpellary, apocarpous, ovary superior, unilocular, Placentation basal, style short, stigma beaked.

Fruit:

Etaerio of Achenes.

Floral Formula of Ranunculaceae 

 , K5 C5 A∞ G̱∞