Description:

• Perennial, sometimes annual or biennial herbs, subshrubs or lianes, sometimes aquatic or associated with water; rhizomes often ± well developed
• Leaves alternate, often radical, or opposite, simple or compound; variously divided, incised, dentate, sometimes entire; petioles mostly sheathing at base; stipules 0 or minute
• Inflorescence usually terminal and basically cymose, but often appearing umbellate to paniculate, or sometimes single-flowered
• Flowers bisexual or sometimes unisexual (Clematis, Thalictrum), regular, hypogynous; floral parts spirally arranged; clearly distinct calyx and corolla only present in Myosurus and Ranunculus
• Sepals 3-6 or more, free, petaloid or sepaloid, imbricate or valvate
• Petals (3-)5(or more), free, usually with a nectary
• Stamens few to many, free, centripetally initiated; anthers extrorse, with longitudinal slits
• Carpels many or 1 or more (Thalictrum), free, sometimes connate; ovules 1 per carpel, anatropous, sometimes hemitropous, bitegmic or unitegmic
• Fruitlets aggregated, sometimes solitary (Thalictrum), follicular, achenial, rarely baccate (Knowltonia)
• Seeds 1 per carpel; endosperm copious; embryo often undifferentiated when shed; cotyledons usually 2 (rarely 1), their petioles somewhat fused downwards

Nomenclature:

• Ranunculaceae
  • Jussieu: 87 (1789)
  • Harvey: 1 (1860)
  • Merxmüller: 37 (1968)
  • Milne-Redhead & Turrill: 1 (1952)
  • Exell & Milne-Redhead: 89 (1960)
  • Tamura: 563 (1993)
  • Thulin: 21 (1993)

Distribution & Notes:

• Global: Genera ± 60, species ± 1750, widespread in temperate and boreal regions of the world
• Southern Africa: Genera 7, species 26

References:

• EXELL, A.W. & MILNE-REDHEAD, E. 1960. Ranunculaceae. Flora zambesiaca 1
• HARVEY, W.H. 1860. Ranunculaceae. Flora capensis 1
• JUSSIEU, A.L. DE. 1789. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita. Herissant & Barrois, Paris
• MERXMÜLLER, H. 1968. Ranunculaceae. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 37
• MILNE-REDHEAD, E. & TURRILL, W.B. 1952. Ranunculaceae. Flora of tropical East Africa. Ranunculaceae
• TAMURA, M. 1993. Ranunculaceae. In K. Kubitzki, J.G. Rohwer & V. Bittrich, The families and genera of vascular plants - dicotyledons 2. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
• THULIN, M. 1993. Ranunculaceae. Flora of Somalia 1

Resources:

• Key to Ranunculaceae genera

• Ranunculaceae genera: