Ancient Greek name.
Perennial herbs. Leaves mostly alternate, variously divided into small leaflets; stipules present. Flowers mostly bisexual, small, in axillary or terminal clusters. Sepals 4-5, petal-like, soon shed. Petals absent. Stamens numerous and often showy. Carpels few, free. Fruits achenes, stalked or stalkless, variously ribbed, winged or angled.
Mostly grown in cooler gardens and further species available from specialist nurseries. Identification requires examination of flower and fruit characters.
Division or seed.
Leaves resembling those of the maidenhair fern. Flowers small in a single whorl and without floral bracts.
About 120-200 species, mostly northern temperate but also from tropical America, tropical and southern Africa and New Guinea.
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.
