Ranunculus glacialis
{{Short description|Species of buttercup}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Ranunculus glacialis Kilpisjarvi 2012-07a.jpg
|genus = Ranunculus
|species = glacialis
|authority = L.{{PLANTS|id=RAGL2|taxon=Ranunculus glacialis|accessdate=September 10, 2013}}
|synonyms=
- Beckwithia glacialis (L.) Löve & Löve
- Oxygraphis glacialis Regel}}
Ranunculus glacialis, the glacier buttercup or glacier crowfoot, is a plant of the family Ranunculaceae. It is a 5-10(-20) cm high perennial herb. Often with a single relatively large (1.8 - 3.8 cm) flower, with 5 petals first white later pink or reddish. The underside of the 5 sepals are densely brown-hairy. The leaves are fleshy, shiny, and deeply loped, forming 3 leaflets.{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/183098604|title=Grønlands flora|date=1978|publisher=P. Haase & Sons|others=Tyge Wittrock Böcher|isbn=87-559-0385-1|edition=3. reviderede udgave|location=København|oclc=183098604}}{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1158895781|title=Nordens flora|date=2020|publisher=Gyldendal|others=Bo Mossberg, Lennart Stenberg, Jon Feilberg, Anna Torsteinsrud, Victoria Widmark|isbn=978-87-02-28916-9|edition=Nye, udvidede og omarbejdede udgave|location=Kbh.|oclc=1158895781}} Ranunculus glacialis is reported (from Greenland material) to have a diploid chromosome number of 2n = 16.
Distribution and habitat
Ranunculus glacialis is an Arctic–alpine species, found in the high mountains of southern Europe (Alps, Pyrenees, Carpathians, Sierra Nevada) as well as on the Scandinavian peninsula, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Jan Mayen, Svalbard, eastern Greenland{{Cite web|title=Pan-arctic flora: Home|url=http://panarcticflora.org/results?biogeographic=&bioclimatic=®ion=&name=ranunculus+glacialis#paf-361201|access-date=2021-07-28|website=panarcticflora.org}}{{Cite web|title=Ranunculus glacialis L.|url=https://www.gbif.org/species/3033461|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.gbif.org|language=en}} and Finland, where it is endangered and protected.{{Cite web|title=Glacier Buttercup, Ranunculus glacialis - Flowers - NatureGate|url=https://luontoportti.com/en/t/2323/glacier-buttercup|access-date=2021-07-28|website=luontoportti.com}}
It has been described as being one of the highest-ascending plants in the Alps, flowering at over 4,000 m.{{Cite journal|last1=Wagner|first1=Johanna|last2=Steinacher|first2=Gerlinde|last3=Ladinig|first3=Ursula|date=July 2010|title=Ranunculus glacialis L.: successful reproduction at the altitudinal limits of higher plant life|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00709-009-0104-1|journal=Protoplasma|language=en|volume=243|issue=1–4|pages=117–128|doi=10.1007/s00709-009-0104-1|pmid=20140466|s2cid=2460684|issn=0033-183X}}
It is found in fell-field and snow-bed sites, on edges of meltwater streams.
Subspecies
Several subspecies are described.{{Cite web|title=International Plant Names Index|url=https://www.ipni.org/?q=ranunculus%20glacialis|access-date=2021-07-28|website=www.ipni.org}}
One subspecies, Ranunculus glacialis subsp. chamissonis, is found on either side of the Bering Strait in Siberia, Russia and Alaska.
Further reading
File:Helga von Cramm. C. Caswell. No. 4. Glacier Ranunculus, Edelweiss, and Alpine Asters. Chromolithograph. With hymn by F.R.Havergal, c.1870.jpg. (With verse by F.R.Havergal. c. 1870.]]
- Totland, Ø., & Alatalo, J. M. (2002). Effects of temperature and date of snowmelt on growth, reproduction, and flowering phenology in the arctic/alpine herb, Ranunculus glacialis. Oecologia, 133(2), 168–175.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-002-1028-z - Wagner, J., Steinacher, G., & Ladinig, U. (2010). Ranunculus glacialis L.: successful reproduction at the altitudinal limits of higher plant life. Protoplasma, 243(1-4), 117–128.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-009-0104-1
References
{{Commons|Ranunculus glacialis}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q161508}}
Category:Plants described in 1753
Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Category:Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Ranunculaceae-stub}}