Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 February 2023 | 15(2): 22757–22760
ISSN 0974-7907
(Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8042.15.2.22757-22760
#8042 | Received 08
June 2022 | Final received 20 December 2022 | Finally accepted 25 January 2023
Occurrence of Ranunculus sceleratus L. (Ranunculaceae)
from the Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu, India
J. Shashikanth
1, S.Mugendhiran 2 & Digvijay Verma 3
1,2 Center of Medicinal Plants
Research in Homoeopathy, 3/126, Indira Nagar, Emerald, The Nilgiri
District, Tamil Nadu 643209, India.
3 Central Council for Research in
Homoeopathy, Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, 61–65, Institutional
Areas, Opposite to “D” Block, Janakpuri, New Delhi
110058, India.
1 jaleshashikanth2000@gmail.com
(corresponding author), 2 mugendhiranselvamm@gmail.com, 3 digvijayccrh@gmail.com
Editor: Anonymity
requested. Date of
publication: 26 February 2023 (online & print)
Citation: Shashikanth,
J., S.Mugendhiran & D. Verma
(2023). Occurrence of Ranunculus
sceleratus L. (Ranunculaceae)
from the Nilgiri District, Tamil Nadu, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 15(2): 22757–22760. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.8042.15.2.22757-22760
Copyright: © Shashikanth et al. 2023. 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: CCRH, Ministry
of AYUSH, Govt. of India, New Delhi.
Competing interests: The authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to
Director General, Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy, Ministry of
AYUSH, Govt. of India, New Delhi for facilities and encouragement.
The genus Ranunculus
Linnaeus (Ranunculaceae) consists of herbaceous,
annual, and perennial species. The genus is distributed on all continents
except Antarctica and the largest number of species occurs in temperate zones
of Europe, Asia, North & South America, Australia, New Zealand, and in the
alpine regions of New Guinea (Johansson 1998).
The genus comprises ca. 600 species (Tamura 1995; Wencai
& Gilbert 2001; Horandl et al. 2005; Mabberly 2008; Srivastava 2010). In Asia, the genus is
distributed in Japan, Korea, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Iran, Mongolia, Egypt, and Syria (Lone & Dar 2016). In India
it is almost restricted to eastern and northwestern Himalaya (Rau 1993) and is
represented by 21 species and six varieties (Hooker & Thomson 1872). Rau
(1993) in Flora of India included 33 species and one variety reported from
Indian boundary.
During a recent medicinal plants
survey of Udhagamandalam, plant specimens of Nilgiri
District belonging to the genus were collected. Critical study of the specimens
followed by pertinent literature survey revealed the identity of the specimens
as Ranunculus sceleratus L. The species was
known so far from Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir
(Srivastava 2010). A further study of existing literature revealed that it was
not prior reported from Tamil Nadu. The current distribution of Ranunculus
in Tamil Nadu is restricted to four species, viz., Ranunculus muricatus (it is native to Europe), R. reniformis (The species is native of Western
Ghats of peninsular India, particularly from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and
Rajasthan), R. subpinnatus (native of
this species is southern Western Ghats, eastern Himalaya to Assam), and R.
wallichianus (it is an endemic species to Western Ghats and Sri
Lanka) were reported in Tamil Nadu, all reported from The Nilgiris
(Hooker & Thomson 1872; Fysen 1915; Gamble 1915;
Sharma 1993; Nair & Henry 1983;
Srivastava 2010). The present finding from Nilgiri
District not only extends its distribution to Tamil Nadu, but also forms an
addition to the Ranunculaceae of Tamil Nadu and new
record to southern India. As it is reported from Tamil Nadu for the first time,
a brief description of the species along with field photographs and notes are
provided herewith to facilitate its easy identification. The voucher specimens
were deposited and are being maintained at Survey of Medicinal Plants &
Collection Unit & Homeopathic Medicinal Plant Research Garden Herbarium
(SMPRGH), Emerald, The Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India.
Taxonomic treatment
Ranunculus sceleratus L., Sp. Pl. 551. 1753; Hook.f. & Thoms in Hook.f., Fl. Brit. India 1: 19. 1872; Rau in Sharma et al.,
Fl. India 1: 128. 1993; Saini, J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 29(3): 533. 2005; Maliya & Datt, J. Econ.
Taxon. Bot. 34(1): 46. 2010; Srivastava, Taiwania
55(3): 290, f. 33. 2010. (Image 1, 2)
Annual herb, erect, fleshy. Roots
fibrous, subequally thick. Stems 10–90 cm high,
glabrous or sparsely pubescent; stem stout, branched, hollow, deeply furrowed
outside. Radical leaves petiolate, reniform, 2.5–5.0 cm in diam., 3-lobed or
3-partite; segments obovate, bluntly 3– 5-toothed; lateral lobes sometime
deeply bilobed again, lobes irregularly shallow crenate; petioles 2.5–5.0 cm
long, progressively shortened and ultimately sessile in cauline leaves,
auricles scarious, 5 mm long; cauline leaves sessile,
3-lobed or 3–5 partite, lobes linear-oblong, entire or deeply crenate or
lobulate. Flowers numerous, ca 1 cm in diam., bright yellow, diffusely racemose; pedicel 0.5–1.5 cm, glabrous,
Sepals 5, ca 4 mm long, ovate-elliptic,
ovate, pubescent outside, reflexed, caduceus. Petals 5, imbricate, shorter or
as long as sepals, obovate, 4–6 x 3–4 mm, apex rounded or shallowly notched,
claw inconspicuous; nectary pit small,
pocket-like without nectary scale. Stamens 10–19; anthers ellipsoid. Aggregate
fruit ovoid-cylindrical to cylindrical, 3–11 × 1.5–4 mm; carpels numerous.
Achenes small, slightly bilaterally compressed, obliquely obovoid, up to 1.3 mm
in diam., beak inconspicuous, glabrous, compressed, smooth to 2- or 3-rugose,
somewhat turgid along sutures; arranged in an oblong to shortly cylindrical,
7–8 mm long head; style short, minutely beaked; stigma persistent, ca 0.1 mm.
Flowering & fruiting:
Throughout the year.
Distribution: India: Northern India, Himalaya, Jammu
& Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur (Srivastava 2010), and Tamil Nadu (Present study).
Habitat: Marshes, damp areas
stagnant water, and sewage channels.
Specimen examined: 9440(SMPRGH),
21.i.2020, India, Tamil Nadu, The Nilgiri
District, Udhagamandalam, on the way from Ooty bus
stand to Mysore road (24.5930N, 86.1530E), 2,275m, coll.
J. Shashikanth.
Taxonomic note: Ranunculus sceleratus L. is morphologically similar and
possibly closely related to R. sarodous.
Both are annuals, 3-partite leaf blades and reflexed sepals. However, Ranunculus
sceleratus differ from R. sardous in presence of oblanceolate leaf segments,
glabrous or sparsely pubescent stem, ovoid-cylindrical to cylindrical
aggregated fruits and having numerous achenes. Furthermore petals shorter or as
long as sepals, achenes inflated, beak inconspicuous when compared with those
of Ranunculus sardous (Eun-Mi
Sun 2019).
Conservation status: As
per Maiz-Tome (2016), the species is Least Concern on
the IUCN Red List. In Tamil Nadu as the plant has so far been reported
from Udhagamandalam, Nilgiri District only. However,
futuristic surveys are recommended to assess its status in different regions in
Tamil Nadu. At present, the species is restricted to a very few populations
which are under severe threat due to tourism related activities, since
Udhagamandalam is one of major tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu. The present
populations of Ranunculus sceleratus L. is
also facing serious threat from human interventions and natural calamities like
floods and grazing of street animals.
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