''Ranunculus trichophyllus'', the threadleaf crowfoot, or thread-leaved water-crowfoot, is a plant species in the genus '' Ranunculus'', native to Europe, Asia and North America. It is a

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

annual or perennial plant generally found in slow flowing streams, ponds, or lakes. The daisy-like flowers are white with a yellow centre, with five petals. It is similar in form to ''

Ranunculus fluitans ''Ranunculus fluitans'' (the river water-crowfoot,) is a species of buttercup. It is a perennial water plant, which when in favourable conditions (such as fast flowing water,) can grow up to 6 m (20 ft) height.J. S. Rodwell; ''British P ...

'' (river water-crowfoot), apart from flower petal number, thread-leaved has on 5 petals and shorter leaves, as thread-leaved prefers slower flowing waters. It also has rounded seed heads which become fruits covered with bristles. The segmented leaves and the plants ability to photosynthesis underwater have been studied.

Taxonomy

It was first described and published by the French naturalist and botanist

Dominique Villars Dominique Villars or Villar (born 14 November 1745 in Le Villard, part of the commune of Le Noyer, Hautes-Alpes, and died on 26 June 1814 in Strasbourg) was an 18th-century French botanist. His main work is ''Histoire des plantes du Dauphiné'' p ...

in his book 'Histoire des plantes du Dauphiné' Vol.3 on page 335 in 1786. The species

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

''trichophyllus'' is Latin for 'hairy leaves'. In North America it is also commonly known as the 'white water crow foot'. The Icelandic name of this species is Lónasóley. Subspecies: * ''Ranunculus trichophyllus'' subsp. ''eradicatus'' (Laest.) C.D.K.Cook (synonym: ''Batrachium eradicatum'' (Laest.) Fr.)

Distribution and habitat

The plant is found in most of the Northern Hemisphere, from the United States, Europe and the Mediterranean, east through Siberia, the Caucasus, the Middle East, the Himalayas, Kazakhstan and Mongolia to Kamchatka in Russia, also in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and Korea. It is even found in the lakes and ponds of Mount Everest.

Phytoremediation

Phytoremediation is a plant-based approach, which involves the use of plants to extract and remove elemental pollutants or lower their bioavailability in soil.

Ranunculus trichophyllus ''Ranunculus trichophyllus'', the threadleaf crowfoot, or thread-leaved water-crowfoot, is a plant species in the genus ''Ranunculus'', native to Europe, Asia and North America. It is a herbaceous annual or perennial plant generally found in s ...

, commonly known as the threadleaf crowfoot or Three-leaved Crowfoot, is a species of aquatic plant. It belongs to the buttercup family ( Ranunculaceae). However, it's not a widely studied or economically significant plant, and information about its specific importance might be limited. Therefore, in terms of Phytoremediation, there is limited information other than the species participates in phytofiltration. Phytofiltration is a type of phytoremediation of heavy metal-polluted soil. Phytofiltration is the use of plant roots (rhizofiltration), shoots (caulofiltration), or seedlings (blastofiltration) to remove pollutants from contaminated surface waters or waste waters. During

rhizofiltration Rhizofiltration is a form of phytoremediation that involves filtering contaminated groundwater, surface water and wastewater through a mass of roots to remove toxic substances or excess nutrients. Overview Rhizofiltration is a type of phytoremedia ...

, heavy metals are either adsorbed onto the root surface or absorbed by the roots. Root exudates can change rhizosphere pH, which leads to the precipitation of heavy metals on plant roots, further minimizing movement of heavy metals to underground water.

is great in phytofiltration to deal with arsenic which is accumulated in aquatic plants and eliminated from water.

Range

It grows in freshwater, found in dune slacks and drainage ditches to ponds, lakes, streams and slow-flowing rivers. It is normally found at around above sea level.

References

trichophyllus Plants described in 1786 Flora of the United Kingdom Flora of the United States Flora of Europe Flora of Siberia Flora of the Caucasus Flora of Nepal Flora of Kazakhstan Flora of Mongolia Flora of Russia Flora of Japan Flora of China Flora of Korea Least concern plants {{Ranunculales-stub