Ranunculus diffusus DC., Prodr. 1: 38.1824; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 19. 1872, p. p. excl. synonyms R. napaulensis DC. & R. subpinnatus Wight & Arn.

Kh.: Bat-niang-ser.

Perennial prostrate or decumbent herbs, highly variable in habit; stems sometimes procumbent, densely brownish hirsute with spreading hairs all over. Leaves nearly as broad as long, ovate to orbicular, cordate, divided into 3 obovate lobes; lobes scarcely segmented, cuneate, shallowly and sharply deltoid-dentate, pubescent beneath; petioles up to 10 cm long, densely hirsute; auricles scarious, brown, 8 - 10 mm long. Flowers solitary, axillary, small, white or yellowish. Sepals elliptic, 3.5 - 1.5 mm long, spreading. Petals obovate, 3.5 - 6 x 2 - 3 mm, yellow. Achenes in globose heads, suborbicular, acute, compressed, distinctly angled, 1.5 - 2 mm in diam., pitted at middle, smooth at Daargius, with intramarginal rib; style hooked; receptacle globose.

Fl. & Fr. April - Oct.

Distrib. India: Himalayas, in evergreen subtropical or temperate forests, on damp ground and in ditches, 1300-2700 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim and Meghalaya.

Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and China.

Notes. Exists in numerous forms and is a taxonomically difficult group.