Ranunculacaea

R. damascenus Boiss. & Gaill. in Boiss., Daign. ser. 2(6): 5 (1859). Syn: R. phrygius Boiss., Fl. Or. 1: 29 (1867)! R. oxyspermus Willd. subsp. damascenus (Boiss. & Gaill.) Davis in Notes R.B.G. Edinb. 23: 143 (1960)! Figures 4, 6, pp. 157, 175. Perennial, 15-30 cm; root tubers oblong-fusiform, 1-2 cm. Stems divaricately 2-16-flowered, ± villosulous like the petioles. Radical leaves 3-lobed to 3-partite, ± cordate, truncate or broadly cuneate at base, segments cuneate and often fanning out above, the lamina with a total of 15-3O(-5O) teeth. Sepals normally strongly reflexed. Petals 10-13 mm, broadly obovate. Fruiting head broadly ovate, 8-10x7-8 mm. Achenes rhomboid-orbicular, tuberculate, hairy, attenuated into a straight but divergent beak, 4 mm (incl. beak). Fl. 4-5. Open, often stony places, 600-1300 m.
Type: [Syria] circa Damascena, Gaillardot.
Mainly Inner & S. Anatolia, commonest E of 36° E. Lycia, Forbes! A7 Gire-sun: Alucra, 1300 m, Stn. & Hend. 5065! Gümüşane: Denrenschi-Chan, Sint. 5793! B2 Uşak: Uşak, Bal. 1129 (type of R.phrygius)! Kütahya: Gediz, 6 vi 1935, Reese & Wall. B4 Ankara: Dikmen Da. near Ankara, 28 v 1932, Kotte! B6 Malatya: nr. Akçadağ, 1000 m, D. 27815! B7 Tunceli: Kharput, Mezre, Sint. 235! C6 Gaziantep: Gaziantep, Balls 769a! Urfa: Rum Kala, Euphrates nr.Kalfatli, Sint. 329! Hatay: Amanus to Kurd Da., Haradj. 1089. C8 Mardin: Mardin, Sint. 1388: 964!
Syrian Desert, W. Syria, N. Iraq. Ir.-Tur. element. More southern in its distribution than R. oxyspermus, and showing a slight morphological overlap with it. The two taxa are, however, as distinct as the others treated as species in this critical group, so that specific rank is assigned to them here. The plant described as R. phrygius Boiss. differs from typical R. damascenus in its narrower leaf segments with fewer, more pointed teeth, but the two intergrade so extensively that that taxonomic recognition seems pointless. Such variants are not always readily distinguished from R. cuneatus.