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Ranunculaceae
 
 
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Ranunculaceae is a family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 of flowering plants also known as the "buttercup family" or "crowfoot family". The family name is derived from the genus Ranunculus. Members include Anemone
Anemone

Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones. They are closely related to Pasque flowers and Hepaticas ; some botanists include both of these genera within Anemone....
 (anemones), Ranunculus
Ranunculus

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 400 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. It includes the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine ....
 (buttercups), Aconitum
Aconitum

Aconitum , known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, women's bane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family ....
 (aconite), and Clematis
Clematis

Clematis is a genus of mostly vigorous climbing lianas, with attractive flowers. Some species are shrubby, and some others are herbaceous perennial plants....
. Ranuncula is Late Latin for "little frog," the diminutive of rana.

According to the database of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are extensive gardens and Greenhouses between Richmond, London and Kew in southwest London, England....
, the family consists of 51 to 88 genera, totalling about 2500 species.






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Ranunculaceae is a family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 of flowering plants also known as the "buttercup family" or "crowfoot family". The family name is derived from the genus Ranunculus. Members include Anemone
Anemone

Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones. They are closely related to Pasque flowers and Hepaticas ; some botanists include both of these genera within Anemone....
 (anemones), Ranunculus
Ranunculus

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 400 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. It includes the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine ....
 (buttercups), Aconitum
Aconitum

Aconitum , known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, women's bane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family ....
 (aconite), and Clematis
Clematis

Clematis is a genus of mostly vigorous climbing lianas, with attractive flowers. Some species are shrubby, and some others are herbaceous perennial plants....
. Ranuncula is Late Latin for "little frog," the diminutive of rana.

According to the database of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are extensive gardens and Greenhouses between Richmond, London and Kew in southwest London, England....
, the family consists of 51 to 88 genera, totalling about 2500 species. Numerically the most important genera are Ranunculus
Ranunculus

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 400 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. It includes the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine ....
 (600 species), Delphinium
Delphinium

Delphinium is a genus of about 250 species of annual, biennial or perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa....
 (365 species), Thalictrum
Thalictrum

Thalictrum is a genus of 120-200 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Thalictrum is a Alpha taxonomy difficult genus with poorly understood species boundaries; it is in need of further taxonomic and field research for clarification....
 (330 species), Clematis
Clematis

Clematis is a genus of mostly vigorous climbing lianas, with attractive flowers. Some species are shrubby, and some others are herbaceous perennial plants....
 (325 species), and Aconitum
Aconitum

Aconitum , known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, women's bane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family ....
 (300 species).

Ranunculaceae can be found worldwide, but are most common in the temperate and cold areas of the northern hemisphere. The family contains many ornamental flowering plants common to the Himalaya, some of which are of medicinal value.

Taxonomy


This family has been universally recognized by taxonomists, and the APG II system
APG II system

A modern list of systems of plant taxonomy, the APG II system of plant classification was published in 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG, in...
, of 2003 (unchanged from the APG system
APG system

A modern list of systems of plant taxonomy, the APG system of plant classification was published in 1998 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. The system is unusual in being based, not on total evidence, but on the cladistics analysis of the DNA sequences of three genes, two chloroplast genes and one gene coding for ribosomes....
, of 1998), places it in the order Ranunculales
Ranunculales

Ranunculales is an order of flowering plants. Of necessity it contains the family Ranunculaceae, the buttercup family.The APG system and the APG II system both recognize the order and place it among the basal eudicots, not assigned to a further clade....
, in the clade eudicots
Eudicots

Eudicots and Eudicotyledons are terms introduced by Doyle & Hotton to refer to a group of flowering plants that had been called "tricolpates" or "non-Magnoliid dicots" by previous authors....
.

The cladogram below has been proposed in APG II system according to recent molecular phylogeny.



The genus Glaucidium
Glaucidium (plant)

Glaucidium is a genus of plants in family Ranunculaceae, comprising a single species Glaucidium palmatum . It is endemism to northern and eastern Japan on Hokkaido and northeastern Honshu on mountains close to the Sea of Japan....
 was once put in its own family (Glaucidiaceae), but has been recently recognised as a primitive member of Ranunculaceae. Tamura (1993) recognised five subfamilies, mainly based on chromosomic and floral characteristics (Hydrastidoideae, Thalictroideae, Isopyroideae, Ranunculoideae, Helleboroideae).

Hydrastidoideae and Glaucidioideae have only one species, Hydrastis canadense and Glaucidium palmatum
Glaucidium (plant)

Glaucidium is a genus of plants in family Ranunculaceae, comprising a single species Glaucidium palmatum . It is endemism to northern and eastern Japan on Hokkaido and northeastern Honshu on mountains close to the Sea of Japan....
 respectively. Coptoideae has 17 species and Thalictroideae has 450, including Thalictrum
Thalictrum

Thalictrum is a genus of 120-200 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Thalictrum is a Alpha taxonomy difficult genus with poorly understood species boundaries; it is in need of further taxonomic and field research for clarification....
 and Aquilegia
Aquilegia

Aquilegia is a genus of about 60-70 species of columbines, herbaceous perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere....
. The other genera (2025 species, 81% of the family) belong to Ranunculoideae.

Some older classifications included Paeonia (peony) in Ranunculaceae but this genus is now placed in its own family, Paeoniaceae in order Saxifragales
Saxifragales

The Saxifragales are an order of dicotyledon flowering plants. In the APG II classification system, it includes the following families:* Family Altingiaceae ...
. Circaeaster and Kingdonia are now placed in Circaeasteraceae
Circaeasteraceae

Circaeasteraceae is a family of one to two species of herbaceous plants native to China and the Himalayas.The family has been recognized by many taxonomists....
.

Description


Ranunculaceae are mostly herbaceous plants, but with some woody climbers (such as Clematis
Clematis

Clematis is a genus of mostly vigorous climbing lianas, with attractive flowers. Some species are shrubby, and some others are herbaceous perennial plants....
) and subshrubs (e.g. Xanthorhiza).

Leaves
Leaves

Leaves are an Iceland five-piece alternative rock band who formed in 2001. They came to prominence in 2002 with their debut album, Breathe, drawing comparisons to groups such as Coldplay and Doves....
 are very often more or less palmately compound.

The flower
Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproduction structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds....
s of the Ranunculaceae show what are considered in some systems of plant taxonomy to be typically primitive characteristics, although the classification scheme of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
APG II system

A modern list of systems of plant taxonomy, the APG II system of plant classification was published in 2003 by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, APG, in...
 considers this family to be among the most basal of the derived Eudicots
Eudicots

Eudicots and Eudicotyledons are terms introduced by Doyle & Hotton to refer to a group of flowering plants that had been called "tricolpates" or "non-Magnoliid dicots" by previous authors....
 clade. They are generally showy and medium to large in size in order to attract pollinators
Pollination syndrome

Pollination syndromes are suites of traits of flowers aimed at attracting a particular type of pollinator . The traits include flower shape, size, colour, reward type and amount, nectar composition, timing, etc....
 and are actinomorphic or radially symmetrical, although in some genera (e. g. Aconitum
Aconitum

Aconitum , known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, women's bane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family ....
, Consolida
Consolida

Consolida is a genus of about 40 species of annual flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native from western Europe through the Mediterranean region east to central Asia....
) they are zygomorphic or bilaterally symmetrical. The perianth is made of one or, more commonly, two whorls, often not clearly differentiated into a true calyx and corolla, the sepals may be joined and the petals are often evolved into spurred nectaries or otherwise modified. The flowers have many free stamen
Stamen

The stamen is the male organ of a flower. Each stamen generally has a stalk called the filament , and, on top of the filament, an anther , and pollen sacs, called sporangium....
s arranged in spirals and usually many free pistils. Flowers are most often grouped in terminal raceme
Raceme

A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate growth and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called Pedicel s — along the axis....
s, panicle
Panicle

A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched Indeterminate growth inflorescence with Pedicel flowers attached along the secondary branches ....
s or cyme
Cyme

Cyme or CYME can refer to:* Cyme, a kind of Inflorescence#Organisation *Kymi, ancient Cumae, a city in Euboea, Greece*Cyme or Kymi, ancient Greek colony on the coast of Aeolia, present-day Namurt in Turkey...
s.

The fruit
Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
 is most commonly a follicle
Follicle (fruit)

In botany, a follicle is a dry unilocular many-seeded fruit formed from one carpel and dehiscing by the ventral suture in order to release seeds, such as in larkspur, magnolia, banksia, peony and milkweed....
 (e. g. Helleborus, Nigella
Nigella

Nigella is a genus of about 14 species of annual plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to southern Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia....
) or an achene
Achene

An achene is a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. Achenes are "monocarpellate" and wikt:indehiscent . Achenes contain a single seed that nearly fills the pericarp, but does not adhere to it....
 (e. g. Ranunculus
Ranunculus

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 400 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. It includes the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine ....
, Clematis
Clematis

Clematis is a genus of mostly vigorous climbing lianas, with attractive flowers. Some species are shrubby, and some others are herbaceous perennial plants....
).

Ranunculaceae contain protoanemonin, which is toxic to humans and animals. Other poisonous or toxic compounds, alkaloid
Alkaloid

Alkaloids are naturally occurring chemical compounds containing base nitrogen atoms. The name derives from the word alkaline and was used to describe any nitrogen-containing base....
s and glycoside
Glycoside

In chemistry, glycosides are certain molecules in which a sugar part is bound to some other part. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms....
s, are also very common.

Uses

Some Ranunculaceae are used as herbal medicines because of their alkaloids and glycosides, such as Hydrastis canadensis (goldenseal), whose root is used as a tonic.

Many genera are well known as cultivated flowers, such as Aconitum
Aconitum

Aconitum , known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, women's bane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family ....
 (monkshood), Consolida
Consolida

Consolida is a genus of about 40 species of annual flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native from western Europe through the Mediterranean region east to central Asia....
 (larkspur), Delphinium
Delphinium

Delphinium is a genus of about 250 species of annual, biennial or perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa....
, Helleborus (Christmas rose), Trollius
Trollius

Trollius is a genus of about 30 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae, closely related to Ranunculus. The common name is globeflower or globe flower....
 (globeflower).

The seeds of Nigella sativa
Nigella sativa

Nigella sativa is an Annual plant flowering plant, native to southwest Asia. It grows to 20–30 cm tall, with finely divided, linear leaf....
, are used as a spice in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine.

Selected genera


  • Aconitum
    Aconitum

    Aconitum , known as aconite, monkshood, wolfsbane, leopard's bane, women's bane, Devil's helmet or blue rocket, is a genus of flowering plant belonging to the buttercup family ....
     - monkshood, wolfsbane
  • Actaea
    Actaea

    Actaea is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.The genus is closely related to Cimicifuga and Souliea, and many botanists include those genera within Actaea based on combined evidence from DNA sequence data, similarity in biochemical con...
     - baneberry
  • Adonis
    Adonis (plant)

    Adonis is a genus of about 20-30 species of flowering plants of the family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe and Asia.The species grow to 10-40 cm in height, with feathery, finely divided leaf....
     - pheasant's-eye
  • Anemone
    Anemone

    Anemone , is a genus of about 120 species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae in the north and south temperate zones. They are closely related to Pasque flowers and Hepaticas ; some botanists include both of these genera within Anemone....
     - anemone
  • Anemonella - rue-anemone, windflower
  • Anemonopsis
    Anemonopsis

    Anemonopsis is a monotypic genus in the Family_ Ranunculaceae, containing only the species Anemonopsis macrophylla....
  • Aquilegia
    Aquilegia

    Aquilegia is a genus of about 60-70 species of columbines, herbaceous perennial plants that are found in meadows, woodlands, and at higher altitudes throughout the Northern Hemisphere....
     - columbine
  • Archiclematis
  • Asteropyrum
  • Barneoudia
  • Beesia
    Beesia

    Beesia is a genus of flowering plants in the Ranunculaceae. It was named after the plant nursery firm Bees of Chester, who financed the plant hunting trips of George Forrest and Frank Kingdon-Ward in China....
  • Calathodes
  • Callianthemum
  • Caltha
    Caltha

    Caltha is a small genus of ten species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to temperate regions of both the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemispheres....
     - marsh marigold
  • Ceratocephala
  • Cimicifuga
    Cimicifuga

    Cimicifuga is a genus of between 12-18 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere....
     - bugbane, cohosh
  • Clematis
    Clematis

    Clematis is a genus of mostly vigorous climbing lianas, with attractive flowers. Some species are shrubby, and some others are herbaceous perennial plants....
     - clematis
  • Clematopsis
  • Consolida
    Consolida

    Consolida is a genus of about 40 species of annual flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native from western Europe through the Mediterranean region east to central Asia....
     - larkspur
  • Coptis
    Coptis

    Coptis is a genus of between 10?15 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Asia and North America.Selected species...
     - goldthread
  • Delphinium
    Delphinium

    Delphinium is a genus of about 250 species of annual, biennial or perennial flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native throughout the Northern Hemisphere and also on the high mountains of tropical Africa....
     - larkspur
  • Dichocarpum
  • Enemion
    Enemion

    Enemion is a genus of flowering plants in the Ranunculaceae known by the common name False rue anemone. Enemion biternatum is native to the eastern half of North America , while several other species are native to the West Coast of the United States....
     - false rue anemone
  • Eranthis
    Eranthis

    Eranthis is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae , native to southern Europe and east across Asia to Japan....
     - winter aconite
  • Glaucidium
    Glaucidium (plant)

    Glaucidium is a genus of plants in family Ranunculaceae, comprising a single species Glaucidium palmatum . It is endemism to northern and eastern Japan on Hokkaido and northeastern Honshu on mountains close to the Sea of Japan....
     - Japanese Wood Poppy
  • Hamadryas
  • Helleborus - hellebore
  • Hepatica
    Hepatica

    Hepatica is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants belonging to the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. A native of Central Europe and northern Europe, Asia and northeastern North America, Hepatica is sometimes called liverleaf or "liverwort"....
     - hepatica
  • Hydrastis - goldenseal
  • Isopyrum
    Isopyrum

    Isopyrum is a genus of flowering plants of the family Ranunculaceae native to Eurasia. It is sometimes treated as part of the North American genus Enemion....
     - rue anemone
  • Knowltonia
    Knowltonia

    Knowltonia is a genus of the family Ranunculaceae. There are at least ten species native to South Africa and an uncertain number growing in the Amazon Basin....
  • Komaroffia
  • Krapfia
  • Kumlienia
    Kumlienia

    Kumlienia is a small genus of flowering plants in the Ranunculaceae known generally as false buttercups. There are two species in this genus, both of which were formerly included in Ranunculus....
  • Laccopetalum
  • Leptopyrum
  • Megaleranthis
  • Metanomone
  • Miyakea
  • Myosurus
    Myosurus

    The genus Myosurus, or Mousetail, belongs to the buttercup family . It comprises about 15 species of annual scapose herbs. These herbs are nearly cosmopolitan distribution , with a center of diversity in western North America....
     - mouse-tail
  • Naravelia
    Naravelia

    Naravelia is a genus of plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. There are at least two members of the genus, wood climbers, native to China....
  • Nigella
    Nigella

    Nigella is a genus of about 14 species of annual plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to southern Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia....
     - love-in-a-mist
  • Oreithales
  • Paraquilegia
  • Paroxygraphis
  • Pulsatilla - pasque flower
  • Ranunculus
    Ranunculus

    Ranunculus is a large genus of about 400 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae. It includes the buttercups, spearworts, water crowfoots and the lesser celandine ....
     - buttercup
  • Semiaquilegia
  • Souliea
  • Thalictrum
    Thalictrum

    Thalictrum is a genus of 120-200 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Thalictrum is a Alpha taxonomy difficult genus with poorly understood species boundaries; it is in need of further taxonomic and field research for clarification....
     - meadow-rue
  • Trautvetteria - tassel-rue
  • Trollius
    Trollius

    Trollius is a genus of about 30 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae, closely related to Ranunculus. The common name is globeflower or globe flower....
     - globeflower
  • Urophysa
  • Xanthorhiza - yellowroot


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