**Description of Ranunculaceae**:
– Mostly herbaceous annuals or perennials, some woody climbers or shrubs.
– Flowers are bisexual, radially symmetrical, and can be showy or inconspicuous.
– Leaves are typically compound or lobed, with some species forming rhizomes for reproduction.
**Taxonomy and Molecular Phylogenetics**:
– Ranunculaceae is in the order Ranunculales within the eudicots.
– Monophyletic family with subfamilies like Ranunculoideae, Helleboroideae, etc.
– Thalictroideae is the only monophyletic subfamily based on molecular analysis.
– New classification with five subfamilies and ten tribes within Ranunculoideae proposed.
– Multiple whole-genome duplication events in the family’s evolutionary history.
**Genera Diversity**:
– Around 43 genera in Ranunculaceae.
– Subfamilies include Glaucidioideae, Hydrastidoideae, etc.
– Genera like Aquilegia, Coptis, Delphinium, Helleborus, and Clematis present.
– Each tribe within the subfamilies contains specific genera.
– Showcases a wide range of floral structures and adaptations.
**Fossil Record**:
– No confirmed pre-Tertiary ranunculacean fossils.
– Oldest confirmed representative: Paleoactaea nagelii from Upper Paleocene.
– Leefructus mirus found in the Early Cretaceous in China.
– Used as a spice in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine.
– Various publications and studies on Ranunculaceae.
**Research and Publications**:
– Early flowers and angiosperm evolution research.
– Phylogeny studies and classification updates by the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group.
– Chromosome studies and systematics of Ranunculaceae.
– Notable publications on topics like molecular phylogeny, flower morphology, and medicinal plant uses.
– External links to resources like Wikimedia Commons, Flora of North America, and botanical databases.
Ranunculaceae (/rənʌŋkjuːˈleɪsiˌaɪ, -siːˌiː/, buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin rānunculus "little frog", from rāna "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide.
| Ranunculaceae Temporal range: Early Cretaceous–Recent
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Ranunculus auricomus | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae Juss. |
| Type genus | |
| Ranunculus | |
| Subfamilies | |
The largest genera are Ranunculus (600 species), Delphinium (365), Thalictrum (330), Clematis (380), and Aconitum (300).