Ranunculus flammula L.

Lesser spearwort (en), Petite flamme (fr), Flammule (fr), Renoncule flammette (fr), Petite douve (fr)

Species

Angiosperms > Ranunculales > Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus

Characteristics

Lvs entire or slightly toothed; pet obovate, mostly 3–7 mm, about twice as long as the sep; achenes 1.3–1.7 mm, the erect or ascending beak 0.2–0.5 mm. 2n=32. Sandy or muddy shores; circumboreal, s. to Mass., Pa., Mich., Minn., and the western cordillera. July–Sept. Our commonest phase is the circumboreal var. filiformis (Michx.) DC., slender, prostrate, and creeping, 1–5 dm long, sending up at each node a few lvs and a naked or few-lvd, 1-fld stem 3–15 cm, the lvs filiform or linear, with scarcely expanded blade to 1.5 mm wide; 2n=32. (R. reptans) The very similar var. ovalis (Bigelow) L. D. Benson, with expanded blades mostly 1.5–7 mm wide, is sporadic with us but common farther west. The chiefly Eurasian var. flammula, in our range restricted to N.S., is stouter, with ascending or reclining stems 1–5 dm, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes but not creeping, branched above and with several fls, and with the lvs mostly 3–10 mm wide.
More
Perennial, glabrous or with sparse appressed hairs; roots all fibrous. Stems slender to stout, erect or suberect, (15)-30-60 cm tall. Lvs simple, entire to shallowly serrate or dentate. Basal lvs lanceolate to ovate, acute, abruptly cuneate or truncate at base, 2-8 × 1-3 cm; petioles erect, 5-10 cm long. Cauline lvs becoming smaller, linear to lanceolate, cuneate at base, shortly petiolate to subsessile. Fls (1)-3-10-(25) per stem, 10-15 mm diam. Pedicels erect, sulcate, (2)-3-6 cm long. Sepals 5, sparsely covered in appressed hairs, weakly recurved, obtuse, 2-3.5 mm long. Petals 5, yellow, obovate-cuneate, truncate, 5-8 × 3.5-6 mm; nectary single, c. 1 mm from petal base, covered by a broad obtuse scale. Receptacle glabrous. Achenes 25-40, glabrous, hardly flattened, weakly bordered, ovoid, smooth; body 1.5-2 × c. 1 mm; beak c. 0.1 mm long.
For description of taxon occurring in Australia see Ranunculus flammula L. subsp. flammula.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination entomogamy
Spread hydrochory
Mature width (meter) 0.1 - 0.5
Mature height (meter) 0.4 - 0.55
Root system creeping-root fibrous-root
Rooting depth (meter) 0.3
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

Common in wet places throughout Britain.
Light 5-7
Soil humidity 7-11
Soil texture 1-4
Soil acidity 3-7
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 5-7

Usage

Uses medicinal poison
Edible -
Therapeutic use Cancer (unspecified)
Human toxicity toxic (whole)
Animal toxicity toxic (whole)

Cultivation

Can be grown by divisions or seedlings.
Mode divisions seedlings
Germination duration (days) 30 - 90
Germination temperacture (C°) 14 - 16
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -29
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Habit

Ranunculus flammula habit picture by Eldsyn (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula habit picture by Terje Norli (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula habit picture by Terje Norli (cc-by-sa)

Leaf

Ranunculus flammula leaf picture by Martin Bishop (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula leaf picture by Christophe Gautreau (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula leaf picture by Jean Marie Jacquart (cc-by-sa)

Flower

Ranunculus flammula flower picture by Wim Cornelissen (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula flower picture by Frank Doorme (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula flower picture by Pierre Chetritt (cc-by-sa)

Fruit

Ranunculus flammula fruit picture by Pierre LEON (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula fruit picture by Pierre LEON (cc-by-sa)
Ranunculus flammula fruit picture by Pierre LEON (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Ranunculus flammula world distribution map, present in Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, Algeria, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Georgia, Greece, Croatia, Hungary, India, Iceland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Morocco, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Ukraine, and United States of America

Conservation status

Ranunculus flammula threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30013390-2
WFO ID wfo-0000460525
COL ID 4RGC9
BDTFX ID 75319
INPN ID 117025
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Flammula ranunculus Ranunculus flammula f. pilosa Ranunculus samolifolius Ranunculus idionanthus Ranunculus caespititius Ranunculus telonensis Ranunculus flammula var. samolifolius Ranunculus flammula var. angustifolius Ranunculus flammula var. flammula Ranunculus flammula var. varians Ranunculus flammula var. strigulosus Ranunculus flammula var. unalaschensis Ranunculus flammula

Lower taxons

Ranunculus flammula subsp. scoticus Ranunculus flammula var. ovalis