Ranunculus cornutus DC.

Raab-Straube, Eckhard von & Raus, Thomas, 2024, Euro + Med-Checklist Notulae, 17, Willdenowia 54 (1), pp. 5-45 : 31

Ranunculus cornutus DC.

+ AE(G): Greece: East Aegean Islands, Nomos of Dodekanisos, Eparchia of Rhodos, Rhodos island, c. 1 km N of Laerma, outskirts of town, 36°10'N, 27°56'E, 250 m, ruderal in wet ditch by forest road to Moni Artamiti, 3 Apr 1996, Kalheber 96-151 (FR); ibid., Nomos of Lesvos, Eparchia of Mitilini, Lesvos island, hills above Kato Tritos W of Kolpos Geras, c. 500 m SW of chapel of Ag. Michail, 36°04'30"N, 27°25'45"E, 150–230 m, 9 Apr 2000, Kalheber 00-031 (FR).

– This chiefly SW Asian species, extending E to Kazakhstan and W to coastal NE Africa ( POWO 2023), is given as absent from Greece in recent floras and checklists ( Dimopoulos & al. 2013, 2020; Strid & Tan 2002). The occurrence of Ranunculus cornutus in Europe was first reported by Hayek (1924: 343) for “Thra” (Thrace) under its synonym R. lomatocarpus Fisch. & C. A. Mey. This record, however, was queried by Tutin & Akeroyd (1993: 277) but is in fact corroborated by collections from Turkey-in-Europe kept in B (Istanbul-Čatalca, 16 Apr 1876, Dingler; Edirne, 1904, Dingler, det. H. Demiriz, confirm. Th. Raus). Strid (2002: 48) therefore conjectured the possible occurrence of R. cornutus also in continental NE Greece. According to Pampanini (1923), the Italian agronomist N. Mazzocchi-Alemanni surveyed Rhodos economically in 1922 when it was under Italian rule ( Mazzocchi-Alemanni 1924). During his fieldwork he collected R. cornutus on the island, later published as R. lomatocarpus by Ciferri (1944: 39), but without giving a precise locality. The record was accepted by Rechinger in his influential Flora aegaea ( Rechinger 1944: 193) but finally rejected by Carlström (1987: 48) as “probably erroneous”. As a consequence, both Med-Checklist ( Greuter & al. 1989: 429) and Flora hellenica ( Strid & Tan 2002: 48) discarded R. cornutus from the flora of the E Aegean Islands which, however, is disproved now. It should be noted that for the time being R. cornutus is not determinable with European floras and can be keyed out only in the Floras of Turkey, Cyprus and SW Asia.

H. Kalheber & Th. Raus