Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum

Plant Identification => Plant Identification Questions and Answers => Topic started by: jomowi on June 05, 2009, 08:01:47 PM

Title: Caltha palustris var barthei?
Post by: jomowi on June 05, 2009, 08:01:47 PM

I have had this plant for many years, so long that the label and my memory have lost the name.  I believe it is a Ranunculus. It grows in a damp part shady spot  and is fully hardy.  The Flowers, about 14 mm across, appear in late April/May.  Can anyone help name it?

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Brian Wilson
Aberdeen

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: arisaema on June 05, 2009, 08:05:24 PM

Caltha palustris, one of the Chinese varieties (http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200007551).

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: Paul T on June 06, 2009, 02:54:19 AM

Wow!  Very nice.  I like it's companion as well.  ;D

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: kalle-k.dk on June 06, 2009, 07:04:32 AM

Hello Brian

It is a Caltha palustris var. barthei It is a Chinese variety and it is rare.

Karl Kristensen
Denmark

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: Maggi Young on June 06, 2009, 01:09:14 PM

[quote ]


It is a Caltha palustris var. barthei It is a Chinese variety and it is rare.



[/quote]

.....and very beautiful!

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: jomowi on June 06, 2009, 08:13:41 PM

Thanks for the help, Caltha palustris barthei it is.  I note that Edrom list a yellow plant under this name, clearly not the same.

Paul- the companion plant is Trillium grandiflorum which had aged to pink.

Brian Wilson
Aberdeen

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: arisaema on June 06, 2009, 08:50:30 PM

It's not the colour that separates the variety, Edrom used to list one called C. barthei atrorubens. Note that the leaves below the inflorescence on your plant are much smaller than the basal ones - which does not seem to fit with the key for v. barthei.

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: Tony Willis on June 06, 2009, 10:53:26 PM

Brian I have the Caltha palustris ssp barthei var atrorubens from Edrom. It  looks in general like yours has red flowers which are a nice colour but other than that it is pathetic. The flowers are less than 1cm in diameter and totally lost in the foliage.Maybe it will improve with age but I think not.

It seems to be setting seed at the moment.

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: kalle-k.dk on June 07, 2009, 08:09:10 AM

Here is the information from Flora of China http://www.efloras.org/index.aspx



1f. Caltha palustris var. barthei Hance, Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot. ser. 5, 5: 205. 1866.
空茎驴蹄草 kong jing lu ti cao




Caltha fistulosa Schipczinsky; C. fistulosa f. atrorubra W. T. Wang; C. palustris var. barthei f. atrorubra (W. T. Wang) W. T. Wang; C. palustris var. multiflora Komarov ex Schipczinsky.

Stems erect, hollow, to 1.2 m tall, ca. 1.2 cm in diam. at fruiting. Cauline leaves below inflorescence subequal to basal leaves in size. 2n = 32, 60.




By streams; 1000--3800 m. SW Gansu, S and W Sichuan, E Xizang, NW Yunnan [Japan, Russia (Far East )].

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: arisaema on June 07, 2009, 08:11:53 AM

How tall are all your plants? My own one from Edrom is sulking, I suspect it's too dry where I planted it.

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: kalle-k.dk on June 07, 2009, 08:47:49 AM

It is about 30 cm. tall and I have planted quite moist, maybe it will to tall where I have planted it.

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: Tony Willis on June 07, 2009, 10:12:16 AM

Mine sulked last year but has taken of this spring and is about 30cms tall. It is in moist soil.

The description on the label says glossy leaves but they are in fact a dull light green.

Title: Re: Ranunculus ID Please
Post by: jomowi on June 08, 2009, 07:44:34 PM

For information my plant is about 45 cm tall.  While there appear to be seed pods I have never found any seed and no self-sown seedlings

Brian Wilson

Title: Caltha palustris var barthei?
Post by: Stephenb on July 20, 2009, 08:02:19 PM

On my recent trip to Northern Norway (see Tromsø thread) I also visited some fantastic gardens. One plant that I saw in several of these gardens is shown below. I'd never seen this beauty before and I found it difficult to believe that it was a variety of Caltha palustris (var barthei I was told). Its dark nodding flowers look so different from the species and other varieties I've seen. It had been imported from China and spread locally amongst enthusiasts. What do the collective minds think?

Thanks in advance...

Title: Re: Caltha palustris var barthei?
Post by: Maggi Young on July 20, 2009, 08:19:18 PM

Stephen, we haven't got this lovely plant, but it has been mentioned a couple of times in the Forum .....see these pages.....

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3658.msg96363;topicseen#msg96363


http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=542.msg13852;topicseen#msg13852


It seems a few Forumists are growing it.....and not only in Norway!  :)

I have merged this new page with the previous ID page on this plant.... :D

Title: Re: Caltha palustris var barthei?
Post by: Stephenb on July 20, 2009, 08:37:29 PM

Thought I was having a premature attack of senility - one minute it was there and then it was gone  ;)

Anyway, thanks for the quick reply. I did look at the Flora of China, but it didn't quite seem to match. So, I'll call it f. atrorubra then (if I've understood correctly). I also saw the other one described by Arisaema.

Title: Re: Caltha palustris var barthei?
Post by: Paul T on July 20, 2009, 10:45:55 PM

It certainly is a cracker of a plant by the look of it!!  Nice!