Latin niger—black, in reference to the colour of the seeds.
Annual herbs to about 80 cm tall with single or branched stems. Leaves alternate, deeply divided into fine segments. Flowers terminal and axillary. Sepals 5, often petal-like. Petals 5-10, smaller than sepals, 2-lipped, the outer divided into 2, nectar is produced in the hollow base. Stamens numerous. Carpels mostly 5, united, at least at the base. Fruit of more or less fused follicles and forming a capsule with long and persistent styles.
Annual; leaves divided into very fine segments; carpels united at the base.
20 species mostly native to the Mediterranean region, but extending to Iran.
Zohary (1982), Sorvig (1983).
Source: (1997). Ranunculaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.