''Ranunculus auricomus'', known as goldilocks buttercup
or Greenland buttercup,
is a perennial species of buttercup native to
Eurasia
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago a ...
. It is a
calcicole
A calcicole, calciphyte or calciphile is a plant that thrives in lime rich soil. The word is derived from the Latin 'to dwell on chalk'. Under acidic conditions, aluminium becomes more soluble and phosphate less. As a consequence, calcicoles grown ...
typically found in moist woods and at the margins of woods. It is
apomictic
In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction without fertilization. Its etymology is Greek for "away from" + "mixing". This definition notably does not mention meiosis. Thus "normal asexual reproduction" of plants, such as propagation from cuttin ...
, and several hundred agamospecies have been recognised.
Description
''Ranunculus auricomus'' is a short and slightly hairy
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
herb with bright yellow flowers.
It can reach a height between 30–, and have as many as 10 palmately-lobed basal leaves. Its upper stem leaves are deeply divided into 3-5 narrow segments giving the plant a filiform appearance.
Its flowers are frequently imperfect or missing, making it difficult to identify ''Ranunculus auricomus'' by flowers alone.
Distribution
''Ranunculus auricomus'' is native to northern Europe and western Asia, approximately from latitudes 43 to 71 degrees and from western Ireland to the Ural Mountains.
In Britain it is generally a lowland species but has been recorded at on
Aonach Beag
Aonach Beag is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. It is located about 3 km east of Ben Nevis on the north side of Glen Nevis, near the town of Fort William. Apart from Ben Nevis, Aonach Beag is the highest peak in the British Isl ...
.
[ It is common in England and southern Scotland but becomes increasingly uncommon in the north and west, ][ so much so that, for example, it is named in the description of the Nature Reserve of Coed Garnllwyd in the ]Vale of Glamorgan
The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...
.
Habitat and ecology
''Ranunculus auricomus'' is a perennial herb which is characteristic of deciduous woodland growing over base rich soils such as those underlain by chalk or limestone. In addition it has been recorded growing among scrub, along roadsides and in churchyards, and infrequently on open moorland in locations which are sheltered by boulders and on sheltered mountain ledges.apomixis
In botany, apomixis is asexual reproduction without fertilization. Its etymology is Greek for "away from" + "mixing". This definition notably does not mention meiosis. Thus "normal asexual reproduction" of plants, such as propagation from cuttin ...
, the seeds developing from unfertilised ova.[
]
Taxonomy
''Ranunculus auricomus'' is a species aggregation in which several hundred agamospecies, that is species which lack gamete
A gamete (; , ultimately ) is a haploid cell that fuses with another haploid cell during fertilization in organisms that reproduce sexually. Gametes are an organism's reproductive cells, also referred to as sex cells. In species that produce t ...
s, have been found with possibly a hundred or so in Britain alone.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1151656
auricomus
Flora of Asia
Flora of Europe
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus