# Ranunculaceae

| Ranunculaceae Temporal range: Cretaceous–Recent |
| --- |
|  |
| *Ranunculus auricomus* (type species) |
| Scientific classification |
| Kinrick: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Faimily: | **Ranunculaceae** Juss. |
| Subfaimilies |
| * Hydrastidoideae
* Glaucidioideae
* Coptoideae
* Thalictroideae
* Ranunculoideae
 |

**Ranunculaceae** (**buttercup** or **crowfoot faimily**; Latin *rānunculus* "little frog", frae *rāna* "frog") is a faimily o aboot 1700 species o flouerin plants in aboot 60 genera, distributit warldwide.

The lairgest genera are *Ranunculus* (600 speshies), *Delphinium* (365), *Thalictrum* (330), *Clematis* (325), an *Aconitum* (300).

## Description

Achenes on the fruit o *Pulsatilla alpina* ssp. *alpina*.
Ranunculaceae are maistly yerbaceous plants, but wi some widy climbers (sic as *Clematis*) an subshrubs (e.g. *Xanthorhiza*).

Flouer diagram o *Adonis autumnalis* frae Strasburger et al. 1900
Memmers o the Ranunculaceae uisually hae five coloured sepals insteid o petals (except buttercups), an
dividit leaves an nonwidy tissue (except clematis).
Leaves are uisually dividit or lobed, but are hert-shaped or nairae an undividit in some speshies o *Ranunculus*, an uisually arise frae the base o the plant, or alternately up the stem, but in *Clematis* thay are opposite. Perennial speshies furm smaa rhizomes or tubers which develop new ruits each year.

Flouers mey be solitary, but are frequently foond aggregatit in cymes, panicles, or spikes. Mony speshies hae na true petals, an the 'flouer' is furmed bi a brichtly coloured group o sepals cried a *calyx*. Thare are uisually five sepals per flouer, tho thay come in a wide variety o shapes. *Ranunculus* (buttercups) is the anly genus in this faimily wi a true calyx *an* petals. Thare are mony stamens surroundin mony fused carpels.

The fruit is maist commonly a follicle (e. g. *Helleborus*, *Nigella*) or an achene (e. g. *Ranunculus*, *Clematis*).

Ranunculaceae contain protoanemonin, which is toxic tae humans an ainimals. Ither pushionous or toxic compooonds, alkaloids an glycosides, are an aa very common.

## Taxonomy

The faimily Ranunculaceae is includit in the Ranunculales which is the sole order o the Ranunculanae, a superorder o eudicots accordin tae APG 3 systematics. The phylogeny is well illustratit in

### Taxonomic comparisons

­Accordin tae Dr John David, (2010) the Ranuculaceae are combined wi the Eupteleaceae, Lardizabalaceae, Menispermaceae, Berberidaceae, an Papaveraceae in the Ranunculales, the anly order in the superorder Ranunculanae. This follaes the wirk o the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.

Takhtajan 1997 includes the Ranunculaceae as the anly faimily in the Ranunculales which he placed in a subclass, the Ranunculidae, insteid o a superorder. Previously, Thorn 1992 placed the Ranunculaceae in the Berberidales, an order within the Superorder Magnolianae. Earlier Cronquist in 1981 includit the Ranunculaceae alang wi seiven ether faimilies in the Rancunculales which wis includit in the Magnoliidae, which he regardit as a subclass.

The cladogram belaw is accordin tae the APG II seestem, based on molecular phylogeny.

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|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|   |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|   | **Glaucidoideae** |
|   |
|   | **Hydrastidoideae** |
|   |

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|   |
|   |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|   | **Coptoideae** |
|   |
|   |

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
|   | **Ranunculoideae** |
|   |
|   | **Thalictroideae** |
|   |

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The genus *Glaucidium* wis ance put in its ain faimily (Glaucidiaceae), but haes been recently recognised as a primitive memmer o Ranunculaceae. Tamura (1993) recognised five subfaimilies, mainly based on chromosomic an floral characteristics (Hydrastidoideae, Thalictroideae, Isopyroideae, Ranunculoideae, Helleboroideae).

Hydrastidoideae an Glaucidioideae hae anly ane species, *Hydrastis canadense* an *Glaucidium palmatum* respectively. Coptoideae haes 17 species an Thalictroideae haes 450, includin *Thalictrum* an *Aquilegia*. The ither genera (2025 species, 81% o the faimily) belang tae Ranunculoideae.

Some aulder classifications includit *Paeonia* (peony) in Ranunculaceae but this genus is nou placed in its ain faimily, Paeoniaceae in order Saxifragales. *Circaeaster* an *Kingdonia* are nou placed in Circaeasteraceae.

### Fossil record

Fossils o fruits, pollen, seeds, an leaves are kent frae several dozen locations. The fossil record begins in the early Cretaceous an continues throughoot the Tertiary. In maist cases, the fossils are assigned tae extant genera, or shaw a close relationship tae a parteecular extant genus.

## Uises

Some Ranunculaceae are uised as yerbal medicines acause o thair alkaloids an glycosides, sic as *Hydrastis canadensis* (goldenseal), whose ruit is uised as a tonic.

Mony genera are weel kent as cultivatit flouers, sic as *Aconitum* (monkshuid), *Consolida* (larkspur), *Delphinium*, *Helleborus* (Christenmas rose), *Trollius* (globeflouer).

The seeds o  *Nigella sativa*, are uised as a spice in Indie an Middle Eastren cuisine.

## Genera

|  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| * *Aconitum* L.
* *Actaea* L.
* *Adonis* L.
* *Anemoclema* (Franch.) W.T.Wang
* *Anemone* L.
* *Anemonopsis* Siebold & Zuccarini
* *Aquilegia* L.
* *Asteropyrum* J.R.Drumm. & Hutch.
* *Barneoudia* Gay
* *Beesia* Balf.f. & W.W.Sm.
* *Calathodes* Hook.f. & Thomson
* *Callianthemum* C.A.Mey.
* *Caltha* L.
 | * *Ceratocephala* Moench
* *Cimicifuga* Wernisch.
* *Clematis* L.
* *Consolida* Gray
* *Coptis* Salisb.
* *Delphinium* L.
* *Dichocarpum* W.T.Wang & P.K.Hsiao
* *Enemion* Rafinesque
* *Eranthis* Salisb.
* *Glaucidium* Siebold & Zuccarini
* *Halerpestes* Greene
* *Hamadryas* Comm. ex Juss.
* *Helleborus* L.
 | * *Hydrastis* L.
* *Isopyrum* L.
* *Knowltonia* Salisb.
* *Laccopetalum* Ulbr.
* *Leptopyrum* Reichenbach
* *Metanemone* W.T.Wang
* *Miyakea* Miyabe & Tatew.
* *Myosurus* L.
* *Naravelia* Adans.
* *Nigella* L.
* *Oreithales* Schltdl.
* *Oxygraphis* Bunge
* *Paraquilegia* J.R.Drumm. & Hutch.
 | * *Paroxygraphis* W.W.Sm.
* *Ranunculus* L.
* *Semiaquilegia* Makino
* *Souliea* Franch.
* *Thalictrum* L.
* *Trautvetteria* Fisch. & C.A.Mey.
* *Trollius* L.
* *Urophysa* Ulbr.
* *Xanthorhiza* Marshall
 |

|  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| * *Anemonella* Spach → *Thalictrum*
 | * *Hepatica* Mill.
* *Pulsatilla* Mill. → *Anemone*
 | * *Psychrophila* (DC.) Bercht. & J.Presl → *Caltha*
 |

## Gallery

### Flowers

* *Aconitum napellus*
* *Actaea spicata*
* *Adonis annua*
* *Anemone nemorosa*
* *Anemone hepatica* = *Hepatica nobilis*
* *Anemone pulsatilla* = *Pulsatilla vulgaris*
* *Aquilegia canadensis*
* *Caltha palustris*
* *Clematis montana*
* *Delphinium elatum* hybrid
* *Eranthis hyemalis*
* *Helleborus × hybridus*
* *Myosurus minimus*
* *Hydrastis canadensis*
* *Nigella damascena*
* *Ranunculus repens*
* *Thalictrum aquilegifolium*
* *Trollius europaeus*

### Fruit

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Follicle
* *Helleborus niger*
* *Nigella arvensis*

 | Achene
* *Pulsatilla* or *Anemone alpina*
* *Ranunculus acris*

 |

* Leet o Anemone species

### General references

* Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 7, Mey 2006 [an mair or less continuously updated syne].
* (in Italian) Sandro Pignatti, Flora d'Italia, Edagricole, Bologna 1982. ISBN 88-506-2449-2
* Tamura, M.: "Ranunculaceae.", en Kubitzki, K., Rohwer, J.G. & Bittrich, V. (Editores). The Families an Genera o Vascular Plants. II. Flowering Plants - Dicotyledons..- Springer-Verlag: Berlín, 1993.- ISBN 3-540-55509-9
* Strasburger, Noll, Schenck, Schimper: Lehrbuch der Botanik für Hochschulen. 4. Auflage, Gustav Fischer, Jena 1900, p. 459 (flouer diagrams)

## Freemit airtins

* *Flora of North America*: Ranunculaceae
* *Flora of China*: Ranunculaceae
* Ranunculaceae in Topwalks Archived 2011-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
* Ranunculaceae Archived 2011-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
* Ranunculaceae Archived 2007-01-03 at the Wayback Machine in L. Watson an M.J. Dallwitz (1992 onwards). *The families of flowering plants* Archived 2007-01-03 at the Wayback Machine.
* NCBI Taxonomy Browser
* links at CSDL, Texas Archived 2006-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
* Japanese Ranunculaceae Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine - Flavon's airt gallery
* Family Ranunculaceae Archived 2011-10-12 at the Wayback Machine Flowers in Israel