Ranunculus lappaceus
Encyclopedia
Ranunculus lappaceus, commonly known as the common buttercup, Australian buttercup or Yarrakalgamba, is found across eastern Australia. Like buttercups
elsewhere, it is a perennial herb with yellow flowers appearing in spring and summer.
James Edward Smith
described it in 1815, and it still bears its original name. It is a member of the large cosmopolitan genus Ranunculus
, known as buttercups. The species name is Latin "with burrs".
Ranunculus lappaceus grows as a perennial herb which grows anywhere to 50 cm (20 in) high. The yellow five-petaled flowers are up to 4 cm (1.6 in) wide and appear in spring and summer. The new growth is hairy.
The range is across Eastern Australia, from Queensland, though New South Wales and Victoria and into South Australia, as well as Tasmania. In Western Australia, it is replaced by the similar species R. colonorum, which has recurved sepals. The latter species has been misidentified as R. lappaceus. Heavy moisture-retentive soils are the main habitat. In the Sydney region, R. lappaceus grows on alluvial or clay-based soils on Wianamatta Shale or basalt in open forest, with such trees as mountain blue gum (Eucalyptus deanei
), ribbon gum (E. viminalis), forest red gum (E. tereticornis
) or prickly paperbark (Melaleuca styphelioides
). R. lappaceus is found from sea level to an altitude of 1200 m (3,937 ft), and the annual rainfall of the area it occurs in the Sydney Basin is 700 –.
A field study conducted in Beaconsfield Upper
found that Ranunculus lappaceus had flowered 78 days earlier in 2006 than it had in 1983, due to some form of change in climate.
Ranunculus lappaceus adapts readily to cultivation in acidic soils in sun or part-shade. It can be grown in rockeries or general bedding.
Ranunculus
Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus include the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine....
elsewhere, it is a perennial herb with yellow flowers appearing in spring and summer.
James Edward Smith
James Edward Smith
Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...
described it in 1815, and it still bears its original name. It is a member of the large cosmopolitan genus Ranunculus
Ranunculus
Ranunculus is a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus include the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine....
, known as buttercups. The species name is Latin "with burrs".
Ranunculus lappaceus grows as a perennial herb which grows anywhere to 50 cm (20 in) high. The yellow five-petaled flowers are up to 4 cm (1.6 in) wide and appear in spring and summer. The new growth is hairy.
The range is across Eastern Australia, from Queensland, though New South Wales and Victoria and into South Australia, as well as Tasmania. In Western Australia, it is replaced by the similar species R. colonorum, which has recurved sepals. The latter species has been misidentified as R. lappaceus. Heavy moisture-retentive soils are the main habitat. In the Sydney region, R. lappaceus grows on alluvial or clay-based soils on Wianamatta Shale or basalt in open forest, with such trees as mountain blue gum (Eucalyptus deanei
Eucalyptus deanei
Eucalyptus deanei, the Mountain Blue Gum is a eucalyptus tree of mountain country of central New South Wales. Eucalyptus deanei is a large to very large tree, usually 30 to 50 metres tall, sometimes achieving a much greater height...
), ribbon gum (E. viminalis), forest red gum (E. tereticornis
Eucalyptus tereticornis
Eucalyptus tereticornis is a species of tree native to eastern Australia.It has a great many common names, of which Forest Red Gum is perhaps the most widely known...
) or prickly paperbark (Melaleuca styphelioides
Melaleuca styphelioides
Melaleuca styphelioides, known as the Prickly-leaved paperbark or Prickly Paperbark, is a plant native to eastern Australia.-Description:...
). R. lappaceus is found from sea level to an altitude of 1200 m (3,937 ft), and the annual rainfall of the area it occurs in the Sydney Basin is 700 –.
A field study conducted in Beaconsfield Upper
Beaconsfield Upper, Victoria
Beaconsfield Upper is a town in Victoria, Australia, 45 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Cardinia...
found that Ranunculus lappaceus had flowered 78 days earlier in 2006 than it had in 1983, due to some form of change in climate.
Ranunculus lappaceus adapts readily to cultivation in acidic soils in sun or part-shade. It can be grown in rockeries or general bedding.