Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Ranunculales Juss. ex Bercht. & J.Presl
Family
Ranunculaceae
Genus
Caltha L.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Caltha obtusa Cheeseman, Trans. New Zealand Inst. 33: 312 (1901)
Synonymy:
  • ≡ Psychrophila obtusa (Cheeseman) W.A.Weber, Phytologia 51: 375 (1982)
 Description

Glab. perennial seldom > 5 cm. tall, with short rhizomes. Petioles slender, seldom > 1 cm. long; lamina seldom > 1 cm. diam., broadly oblong to suborbicular, subcordate and 2-lobed at base, crenate to crenate-dentate, emarginate. Lobes upturned, ± appressed to and not much shorter than lamina, crenate. Scapes rather stout, at first very short, later elongating. Sepals 5, white, about obovate, obtuse to acute; stamens 10–15; carpels narrow-ovate in outline; styles rather long, slender. Mature follicles not seen.

[From: Allan (1961) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 1.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Jan.

 Bibliography
Cheeseman, T.F. 1900: Some recent additions to the New Zealand flora. Transactions of the New Zealand Institute 33: 312–313.
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Schuettpelz, E.; Hoot, S.B. 2004: Phylogeny and biogeography of Caltha (Ranunculaceae) based on chlroroplast and nuclear DNA sequences. American Journal of Botany 91(2): 247–253.
Weber, W.A. 1982: New names and combinations, principally in the Rocky Mountain flora. 2. Phytologia 51: 369–376.