20. Ranunculus rubrocalyx Regel ex Komarov, Tray. Soc. Nat. Petersh. 26:62. 1896. Ovez. in Komarov, Fl. URSS. 7:404. 1937, Tamura in Kitam., Fl. Plants W. Pak. & Afghan. 65. 1964, Stewart, Ann. Catalogue Vasc. Pl. W. Pak. & Kashm. 272. 1972, Qureshi & Chaudhri, l.c. 166.
HARALD RIEDL and YASIN J. NASIR
Naturhistorisches Museum, Botanische Abteilung, Wien, Austria.
and
National Herbarium, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Perennial with fibrous roots, sometimes loosely caespitose. Stems 7-20 (-25) cm high, rarely several, ascending, glabrous, except in the upper most part with appressed hairs. Basal leaves petiolate, blade ternate, cordate-suborbicular in outline, segments obovate, free to the base or rarely united near the base, sessile, cuneate, incised-lobulate or sharply incised-dentate, lobules ovate-oblong, subacute, entire or dentate again. Stem leaves few, sessile, palmatipartite, with linear, entire or incised dentate lobes. Peduncles densely strigulose in their uppermost part. Flowers solitary, 15-17 mm in diameter, yellow. Sepals 9 (-9.5) mm, ovate, dark red, with short, appressed white hairs. Petals about as long as the sepals, obovate. Achenes arranged in a subglobose to rounded ovoid head, 1.5-2 mm long, ± ellipsoidal-obovoid, inflated, glabrous. Style short, slender, slightly recurved, apically hooked.
Fl. Per.: June-July.
Type: Described from the Zerayshan River basin (LE).
Chitral: A-7 Dorah Pass, 14500', tufted, gravelly places, Stainton 3243 (RAW), Chitral Gol, 12000', Stainton 2668 (RAW), Kashmir: B-8 Rattu-Gurikot, F. Schmid 1766 (RAW).
Distribution: Pamir-Alai, Tien Shan, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan.
This species has often been misinterpreted in the past as Ranunculus rufosepalus or Ranunculus hirtellus. It differs from former by the presence of whitish hairs on the sepals (not reddish-brown) and from the the latter in its smaller size and I-2–flowered inflorescence. Found in rocky areas up to 4400 m.
