Ranunculus

…A perennial plant with a tuberous root of the Ranunculaceae family, also known as buttercup (illustration). Native to southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia, it produces three-lobed basal leaves with petioles, each of which is further lobed shallowly or deeply. In spring, it grows several hollow flower stalks 30-40 cm tall, which produce one or several flowers. The flowers vary from single five-petaled to multipetaled, and come in a variety of colors. A single-flowered variety was introduced to England at the end of the 16th century. After some time, improved varieties were developed, and double-flowered varieties were created. More recently, improvements have been made in the Netherlands, America, Japan, and other places, resulting in giant flowers with many multi-flowered flowers that produce few seeds and are over 10 cm in diameter, tall varieties over 50 cm, and dwarf varieties suitable for potted plants. …

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Ranunculus" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…キンポウゲ科の塊根を有する多年草で，ハナキンポウゲとも呼ぶ（イラスト）。ヨーロッパ南東部から西南アジア原産の多年草で，葉柄のある3裂する根出葉を出し，各小葉はさらに浅裂あるいは深裂する。春，高さ30～40cmの中空の花茎を数本伸ばし，1～数花をつける。花は5弁の一重咲きから重弁化したものまでさまざまで，花色も多彩である。16世紀末に一重咲きの系統がイギリスに導入された。やがて品種改良が進み八重咲きが生まれ，また最近はオランダ，アメリカ，日本などで改良が加えられ，ほとんど種子が実らない万重咲きで直径10cm以上の巨花や，50cm以上の高性種や鉢植え向きの矮性（わいせい）種などが作出されている。…

※「Ranunculus」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報