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Ranunculus lyallii

Mount Cook Buttercup · Mount Cook Lily · Mountain Lily

Family RanunculaceaeGenus Ranunculus

White flowers with yellow centers above large round glossy leaves
FlowerPeter de LangeCC0

About the plant

What it is and where it grows — not part of any germination protocol.

Safety

Toxicity
Poisonous to cattle, goats, horses. All parts. Protoanemonin. Stated for Ranunculus spp.Plants Poisonous to Livestock

The plant

Habit
perennialPlants of the World Online
Flower
WhiteWikipedia
Native range
New Zealand SouthGBIF Backbone Taxonomy
Note
Long held to be very hard from seed. Deno's finding is that GA-3 is a requirement, not an aid.Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed.

Toxicity is noted only where a source states it. No note here is not a finding of safety.

Sources: Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Wikipedia — Wikipedia contributors; GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — Global Biodiversity Information Facility; Plants Poisonous to Livestock — Cornell University Department of Animal Science; Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno.

Worth knowing

  • The largest species of buttercup, growing over a meter tall, it is endemic to New Zealand. It is often called the Mount Cook lily, though it is not a lily. It was discovered by the Scottish botanist and doctor David Lyall. Wikipedia: Ranunculus lyallii

Protocol

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty Moderate Rated by us, not by the source.

  1. Gibberellic acid soak

  2. Sow and cover

    Temperature: 70°F 21°C

    A prior three months at 70 in the dark made no difference.

No stated waiting before sowing. Then 49 days to germinate.

22% germination in 35–49 days.

GA-3 is a requirement here, not an improvement. Without it, nothing.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, RanunculusPublic domain
Show the original text
Ranunculus (Ranunculaceae). Germination was remarkably varied A. lyallii is the famous Mt. Cook "lily' of New Zealand. Mubh difficulty has been reported in trying to germinate seed. It was thus a great pleasure to find that GA-3 is a requirement for germination. In retrospect it is obvious that the ecology of this plant is similar to the rosulate violas and other GA-3 requirers. Fresh seeds germ. 70 GA-3(22% in 5-7 w). A prior 3 m in 70D had no effect. Seedlings were normal.
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Ranunculus. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

How each step is done, in Deno’s words, and what Verified and Derived mean.

Germination trials

Readers’ own records of sowing this species, published after review. Share your trial · All trials

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