Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 September 2024 | 16(9): 25945–25948

 

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) 

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9342.16.9.25945-25948

#9342 | Received 31 July 2024 | Final received 16 September 2024 | Finally accepted 21 September 2024

 

 

Ranunculus cantoniensis DC. (Ranunculaceae): an addition to the flora of West Bengal, India

 

Jayantanath Sarkar 1, Srijan Mukhopadhyay 2  & Biswajit Roy 3

 

1 Basanta Bahar, Sunil Kar Sarani, Coochbehar, West Bengal 736101, India.

2,3 Taxonomy and Biosystematics Laboratory, PG Department of Botany, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara, Kolkata, West Bengal 700118, India.

1 s.jayanta.2021@gmail.com, 2 mailofsrijan@gmail.com, 3 biswajit.roy@rkmvccrahara.org (corresponding author)

 

Editor: A.J. Solomon Raju, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam India.       Date of publication: 26 September 2024 (online & print)

 

Citation: Sarkar, J., S. Mukhopadhyay & B. Roy (2024). Ranunculus cantoniensis DC. (Ranunculaceae): an addition to the flora of West Bengal, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(9): 25945–25948. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9342.16.9.25945-25948

  

Copyright: © Sarkar et al. 2024. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.

 

Funding: Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara, Kolkata.

 

Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

 

Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the principal, R.K.M.V.C. College for providing all the necessary facilities in this endeavor. We express our sincere gratitude to the head and the co-coordinator of PG Department of Botany, R.K.M.V.C. College for their support and encouragement. We are also thankful to the anonymous reviewers for improving the manuscript.

 

 

Ranunculus L. is the largest genus of the family Ranunculaceae, comprised of more than 1,700 species (POWO 2024). It is cosmopolitan in distribution, generally occurring in temperate to tropical regions, as well as in high mountain regions of the world (Tamura 1995; Mabberley 2008). They occur in a variety of habitats including dry & damp meadows, forests, shallow & marshy banks of water bodies, and alpine grasslands. In India, Rau (1993) recorded 33 species with one variety, whereas Srivastava (2010) reported 41 species with four varieties of the genus Ranunculus. Eight species were reported from West Bengal (Uniyal & Thothathri 1999).

During botanical excursions in 2023 and 2024 in northern part of West Bengal, India, one interesting species of Ranunculus L. was collected from the district of Coochbehar. The specimen after critical analysis and perusal of relevant literature (Srivastava 2010; BSI 2024) was identified as Ranunculus cantoniensis DC. Authenticated herbarium specimens from CAL, BM, G, GH, P (Thiers 2024) were matched for confirmation of the identity of the species. The specimens were submitted to Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College  Herbarium (RKMVCCH). Detailed descriptions along with photographs, habitat details, phenology, and distribution of this species are provided for proper identification.

Earlier literature did not record the distribution of this species from West Bengal in their treatment of Ranunculaceae in India, hence, the species was hitherto unknown from the state (Rau 1993; Uniyal & Thothathri 1999; Srivastava 2010). Therefore, this report is the new distributional record of this herbaceous species from West Bengal.

 

Taxonomic treatment

Ranunculus cantoniensis DC., Prodr. 1: 43.1824; M.A. Rau in B.D. Sharma et al., Fl. India 1: 117. 1993; R. napaulensis DC. in Prodr. 1: 39. 1824; R. chinensis Bunge in Enum. Pl. Chin. Bor.3. 1833; R. fibrosus Wall. ex Hook.f. &Thomson, Fl. Ind. 1: 37. 1855; R. pensylvanicus auct. non L.f.; Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 1:19.1872, p.p. (Figure 1; Image 1).

Herbaceous, erect, 13-–25 cm tall, branched, hirsute. Leaves trifoliate or trifoliolate, ternatisect, alternate, pubescent, palmately veined; leaflets lobed to partite, rhombic or obliquely trullate; apex acute; base cuneate-attenuate; margin irregularly serrated; 4–8 x 5–7 cm; petioles of radical leaves sheathing at base, 3–12 cm long or absent ; petiolules 1–2 cm long. Flowers solitary, terminal, leaf opposed; pedicels 2–5 cm long. Sepals 5, ovate or elliptic-oblong, apex obtuse, imbricate, mostly reflexed, adaxially glabrous, abaxially hirsute, green with purple tips, margins translucent, and membranous, c.a. 6–8 x 3 mm. Petals 5, obovate, apex rounded-obtuse, glabrous, yellow, greenish towards the base, 5–7 x 3 mm. Stamens numerous, 3–3.5 mm long; filaments linear, green, ca. 2 mm long; anthers yellow, basifixed, ca. 1.5 mm long. Carpels numerous, green, laterally compressed, obliquely obovate, 3.5 x 2 mm. Stigma white, ca. 0.5 mm shortly beaked. Receptacle sub-globose, narrow, ca 5 x 3 mm, hairy. Achenes numerous, obliquely obovate, compressed, spirally arranged in globose to oblong etaerios, shortly beaked, glabrous or minutely granular, 3.5–4 x 2–3 mm. Seeds ovoid, flattened, light brown, 2 x 1 mm; apex rounded; base acute; hilum lateral, black.

Flowering and Fruiting: March–December

Distribution: Global: Bhutan, China, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam,

India: Northwestern Himalaya to northeastern India, subtropical to temperate regions. Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, and West Bengal (present study).

Specimens examined: West Bengal, Coochbehar, Jhinaidanga, Khalsi (23.309˚N, 88.485˚E; 32.42 m): 23.iii.2024, Roy, Sarkar, & Mukhopadhyay 7395 (RKMVCCH 000631); West Bengal, Coochbehar, Jhinaidanga, Khalsi (23.309˚N, 88.485˚E; 32.42 m): 23.iii.2024, Roy & Karak 7396 (RKMVCCH 000632);

Notes: The investigated taxon was found to be growing under diffused sunlight, in low lying, very moist areas adjacent to cultivated land, and bamboo thickets in association with Mikania micrantha Kunth, Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides Lam., Stellaria media L., Grangea maderaspatana (L.) Poir., Persicaria orientalis (L.) Spach. Rau (1993), Wang & Gilbert (2001), and Kuo et al. (2005) and Yang & Huang (2008) treated R. chinensis Bunge and R. cantoniensis DC. as two distinct species. R. chinensis Bunge is distinguished from R. cantoniensis DC. in having narrower & deep-incised leaflets; the central leaflet being rhombic and ovoid-cylindric or ovoid-aggregrate fruits, whereas ovate leaflets and sub-globose aggregate fruit in the latter. Upon scrutiny of herbarium specimens and literature, Srivastava (2010) revealed this appearance to be continuous gradations in morphology of the leaf, and the etaerios within the broad range of geographic regions of tropical & subtropical Asia, and treated R. chinensis Bunge as a synonym for R. cantoniensis DC. Among the eight species of Ranunculus (Unial & Thothathri 1997), the investigated taxon along with three species of Ranunculus, viz. R. sceleratus L., R. muricatus L., and R. sardous Crantz. are known to be distributed outside of Darjeeling District. Ranunculus muricatus and R. sardous have muricate achenes but the spines are restricted to the margins in R. sardous. Moreover, R. sceleratus has smooth achenes like in R. cantoniensis but the plant is glabrous unlike the latter.

 

 

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References

 

BSI (2024). Ranunculaceae https://efloraIndia.gov.in. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata. Accessed on 9 July 2024.

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Mabberley, D.J. (2008). The Plant Book: A Portable Dictonary of Plants, Their Classification and Uses. Cambridge University Press.Cambridge, UK, 1021 pp.        

POWO (2024). Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/ Retrieved 27 July 2024.

Rau, M.A. (1993). Ranunculus, pp. 113–131. In: Sharma, B.D., N.P. Balakrishnan, R.R. Rao & P.K. Hajra (eds.). Flora of India, Vol. 1. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta, India, 467 pp.

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Tamura, M. (1995). Angiospermae. Ordnung Ranunculales Fam. Ranunculaceae. II. Systematic Part, pp. 223–519. In: Hiepko, P., A. Engler, H. Harms, J. Mattfeld, H. Melchior & E. Werdermann (eds.). Die Naturlichen Pfanzenfamilien,17aIV., Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, Germany, 550 pp.

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Uniyal, B.P., & K. Thothathri (1997). Ranunculaceae, pp. 113–133. In: Anonymous, Flora of West Bengal, Vol. 1. Botanical Survey of India, Kolkata, India, 486 pp.

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