Ranunculus muricatus L., Sp. Pl. 780. 1753; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 20. 1872.

Herbs, annual, glabrescent, erect or diffusely branched; stems 10 - 30 cm high. Radical leaves long-petioled, suborbicular, reniform, 3 - 5 cm across, 3-fid; lobes variously cut, coarsely crenate-lobate, cordate at base. Cauline leaves 3-partite, cuneate at base. Flowers ca 1 cm across, solitary, leaf-opposed, yellow. Sepals reflexed, shorter than petals, sparsely setulose. Petals oblong-obovate. Achenes many in globose heads, ovate, flattened, 7 - 8 mm long, with numerous scattered tubercles on the surface; beak 2 - 3 mm long, nearly straight, slightly shorter than the achene.

Fl. & Fr. April - Oct.

Distrib. India: Cold temperate regions of Himalayas and Peninsular India. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Pakistan, Iran, Greece and Russia to Europe.

Notes. The herb is poisonous and is used in intermittent fevers and asthma in Kashmir (Kumar & Naqshi in J. Econ. Tax. Bot. 14: 72. 1990).