Ranunculus scleratus
L., Sp. Pl.
776. 1753; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India
1: 19. 1872.
Hindi: Jaldhania.
Herbs, annual, erect, somewhat fleshy, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, up to 60 cm high; stems hollow, deeply furrowed outside. Radical leaves petioled, reniform, 25 - 5 cm across, 3-partite at base; segments obovate, bluntly 3 - 5-toothed; petioles 2.5 - 15 cm long. progressively shortened and ultimately sessile in cauline leaves; auricles scarious, 5 - 7 mm long. Cauline leaves obovate, unlobed or bluntly 3 - 5-toothed or shortly 3-partite. Flowers several ca 1 cm across, bright yellow, diffusely racemose. Sepals elliptic, ca 3 x 15 mm, pubescent, somewhat reflexed, caducous. Petals as long as sepals or shorter, yellow. Achenes small, obovoid, ca 0.75 mm long, compressed, pale at margin, numerous in a cylindrical or oblong, 7 - 8 mm long head; beak minute.
Fl. & Fr. Feb. - March.
Distrib. India: Himalayas, warm valleys and plains of N. India, weed in irrigated fields, ditches and river banks, 1400 - 1600 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Manipur.
Japan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Europe and Russia.
Notes. According to Fl. U.S.S.R. 7: 408. 1937, one of the most poisonous species of Ranunculus.
Herbs, annual, erect, somewhat fleshy, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, up to 60 cm high; stems hollow, deeply furrowed outside. Radical leaves petioled, reniform, 25 - 5 cm across, 3-partite at base; segments obovate, bluntly 3 - 5-toothed; petioles 2.5 - 15 cm long. progressively shortened and ultimately sessile in cauline leaves; auricles scarious, 5 - 7 mm long. Cauline leaves obovate, unlobed or bluntly 3 - 5-toothed or shortly 3-partite. Flowers several ca 1 cm across, bright yellow, diffusely racemose. Sepals elliptic, ca 3 x 15 mm, pubescent, somewhat reflexed, caducous. Petals as long as sepals or shorter, yellow. Achenes small, obovoid, ca 0.75 mm long, compressed, pale at margin, numerous in a cylindrical or oblong, 7 - 8 mm long head; beak minute.
Fl. & Fr. Feb. - March.
Distrib. India: Himalayas, warm valleys and plains of N. India, weed in irrigated fields, ditches and river banks, 1400 - 1600 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Manipur.
Japan, China, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Europe and Russia.
Notes. According to Fl. U.S.S.R. 7: 408. 1937, one of the most poisonous species of Ranunculus.
