Ranunculus peltatus explained

Ranunculus peltatus, the pond water-crowfoot, is a plant species in the genus Ranunculus, native to Europe, southwestern Asia and northern Africa.

It is a herbaceous annual or perennial plant generally found in slow streams, ponds, or lakes. It has two different leaf types, broad rounded floating leaves 3–5 cm in diameter with three to seven shallow lobes, and finely divided thread-like submerged leaves. The flowers are white with a yellow centre, 15–20 mm in diameter, with five petals.^[1]

Some authorities consider there to be two sub-species; subsp. peltatus, which favours freshwater, and subsp. baudoti (Brackish Water-crowfoot) which is found in brackish coastal habitats.^[2] The latter now considered a entirely separate species, Ranunculus baudotii.^{[3] [4]}

Notes and References

1. Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe.
2. Book: Sell . Peter . Murrell . Gina . Flora of Great Britain and Ireland, vol. 1 . 2018 . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge. 978-0-521-55335-3.
3. Book: Stace . C.A. . New Flora of the British Isles . 2019 . Suffolk . C&M Floristics . 4th . 978-1-5272-2630-2.
4. Book: Schou . J.C. . Moeslund . B. . van de Weyer . K. . Lansdown . R.V. . Wiegleb . G. . Holm . P. . Baastrup-Spohr . L. . Sand-Jensen . K. . 1 . Aquatic Plants of Northern and Central Europe including Britain and Ireland . Princeton University Press . 2023 . 978-0-691-25101-1 . Princeton, N.J..