Ranunculus-trichophyllus_1

Description:

Ranunculus trichophyllus s.str. Chaix, syn.: Batrachium trichophyllum (Chaix) F. W. Schultz, Ranunculus divaricatus SchrankFamily: RanunculaceaeSubgenus: BatrachiumEN: Threadleaf Crowfoot, Thread-leaved Water Crowfoot, DE: Gewhnlicher Harrblat WasserhahnenfuSlo.: lasastolistna vodna zlaticaDat.: April 24. 2018Lat.: 45.09614 Long.: 14.49151 (WGS84)Code: Bot_1126/2018_DSC2186Habitat: Water pond in the midst of forest; flat terrain; calcareous ground; partly sunny;elevation 72 m (235 feet); average precipitations about 1.000 mm/year, average temperature 13-14 deg C, Sub-Mediterranean phytogeographical region. Substratum: soil.Place: West island Krk, Adriatic Sea, between villages Poljica and Turi, Kvarner bay, Croatia EC. Comment: The number of species in the genus Ranunculus - buttercups - is very large (about 600). Vast majority of them are terrestrial plants. Several are well known and common inhabitants of meadows. Yet, a small group of them (subgenus Batrachium) is living in still or slowly running waters. They are all relatively rare because their habitats are quickly disappearing because of human greed for useful land. These plants are all very variable and change their habit greatly depending on growth conditions - from floods to almost dry mud. Hence, their determination is often difficult. This find seems relatively a simple case in this respect. Plants' robust habit (from 0.5 to 3 m long stems up to 5 mm in diameter), small flowers (max 12 mm in diameter; that is significantly less than with most probable alternatives Ranunculus peltatus or Ranunculus aquatilis), petals, which are relatively narrow and do not overlap, roundish receptacle (the part of the peduncle where the flowers are born), sickle shaped nectary groves, absence of leaves floating on water surface, soft underwater leaves (they stick together and form a 'brush' when taken out of water) and the fact that floating stems are not rooting at the nodes or eventually only weakly and near their base, all this speaks in favor of Ranunculus trichophyllus.Ref.:(1) M.A. Fischer, W. Adler, K. Oswald, Exkursionsflora fr sterreich, Liechtenstein und Sdtirol, LO Landesmuseen, Linz, Austria (2005), p 280.(2) W.K. Rottensteiner, Exkursionsflora fr Istrien, Verlag des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins Krten (2014), p 791.(3) A. Martini et all., Mala Flora Slovenije (Flora of Slovenia - Key) (in Slovenian), Tehnina Zaloba Slovenije (2007), p 141. (4) (x) K. Lauber and G. Wagner, Flora Helvetica, 5. Auflage, Haupt (2012), p 140.(5) H. Haeupler, T. Muer, Bildatlas der Farn- und Bluetenpflazen Deutschlands, Ulmer (2000), p 65.