Ranunculus circinatus Sibth., Fan-leaved Water-crowfoot
Account Summary
Native, very occasional or rare. Eurasian temperate.
4 July 1977; R.H. & Mrs H.J. Rossole; lough, south of Enniskillen.
June to August.
Growth form and habitat preferences
Unlike most other aquatic Ranunculus species, R. circinatus is an easy species to recognise and ought to be well recorded. R. circinatus is a long-lived perennial of clear, base-rich, meso-eutrophic to eutrophic, still or slow-moving waters. It has no floating leaves, producing only submerged, finely dissected ones, the short, rigid segments of which are arranged in a very distinctive flat fan shape 1-2.5 cm across (Parnell & Curtis 2012). Typically, it lives rooted in mud or clay substrates, submerged in fairly deep (around 1-3 m), sheltered lake water, or in ditches in grazing marshes or fens. It is only found in shallower situations provided that the water is permanently present and never dries out. This is because unlike many other British and Irish species of Batrachian Ranunculi, it has no annual, terrestrial life-form, or only very rarely forms one on regularly flooded shorelines. Thus normally it cannot tolerate even a brief period of desiccation and therefore cannot colonise and exploit exposed bare mud (Cook 1966a; Preston & Croft 1997; Jonsell et al. 2001).
In other parts of Britain and Ireland, R. circinatus has colonised man-made still-water habitats such as reservoirs, quarry pools, gravel pits and even garden ponds (Preston & Croft 1997), but it does not appear to have done so in Fermanagh. In Baltic Scandinavia, R. circinatus is quite frequently found in brackish conditions, where it can occur down to depths of 5 m (Cook 1966a; Jonsell et al. 2001).
Fermanagh occurrence

Preston & Croft (1997) note that R. circinatus often fails to flower, or does so only sparingly, which may at least in part account for the paucity of records prior to the very thorough 1988-91 NI Lakes Survey. There were no records at all for this species in Fermanagh prior to 1977, and 22 of the 34 existing records were made by the NI Lakes Survey. This water-crowfoot has been found in a total of 22 tetrads, 4.2% of those in the VC. As the tetrad map indicates, most of the records are in Lower Lough Erne with outliers on the shores of Upper Lough Erne and at Rossgole Lough on the outskirts of Enniskillen.
Reproduction and dispersal
R. circinatus is known to flower only occasionally in Britain and Ireland, typically doing so between May and August. When flowering does occur, it appears to produce very little or no seed. With this background we may safely assume that plants or clonal colonies of R. circinatus reproduce almost exclusively by vegetative means, involving fragmentation and re-rooting of stems (Hong 1991). When autumn arrives and the main shoot is in the process of dying off at the end of the growing season, shoot tips consisting of a short length of the stem apex plus a few green capillary leaves are formed and released from the parent plant. These vegetative fragments float away and have the potential to disperse and propagate the plant (Jonsell et al. 2001). Similar stem fragments may be accidentally transported, for instance by attachment to boats or to the gear of anglers, and of course they may also disperse by attachment to water-living animals including birds (Cook 1966a; Preston & Croft 1997).
Colonising behaviour
In an interesting experiment, recolonisation by macrophytes of a stretch of river in France previously completely cleared of such plants, showed that early colonisation by R. circinatus combined two distinct strategies of invasion. Firstly there was the 'border effect', involving vegetative outgrowth from adjacent intact vegetation, while the second mechanism (without implying secondary importance to it), comprised random recruitment from detached propagules (ie viable vegetative fragments or seed diaspores). The survey technique used could not distinguish between these two forms of propagule, making it impossible to distinguish sexual from asexual reproduction (Barrat-Segretain & Amoros 1996). However, we know that in Britain and Ireland, reproduction of R. circinatus is almost exclusively vegetative.
The two strategies of aquatic colonisation that the French workers detected, mirror the terrestrial 'phalanx' and 'guerrilla' approaches described by Lovett-Doust (1981) for clonal terrestrial Ranunculus species such as R. repens (Creeping Buttercup).
Overwintering
Plants of Fan-leaved Water-crowfoot overwinter submerged as a prostrate length of branching stem lying along the bottom substrate attached by roots formed at numerous stem nodes. In the summer, the prostrate stems develop erect, unbranched stems that grow up towards the surface of the water. (Cook 1966a).
Irish occurrence
In the Republic of Ireland, R. circinatus is very thinly and widely scattered in the N and C of the country (New Atlas). North of the border in Northern Ireland, it is concentrated in three discrete areas: the limestones of Fermanagh and S Tyrone, around Lough Neagh and the adjacent Upper reaches of the River Bann, and finally on the River Quoile in E Down (NI Vascular Plant Database 2015).
British occurrence
In Great Britain, R. circinatus is quite frequent S of a line between Hull and Bristol, but it rapidly declines to rarity towards the N and W of the island.
European occurrence
R. circinatus occurs chiefly in W, C and E areas of Europe, but is very rare in the Mediterranean basin and reaches its northern extremity in both Sweden and Finland at a latitude of 63oN in the Gulf of Bothnia (Jalas & Suominen 1989, Map 1898).
World occurrence
Elsewhere, R. circinatus is found in C and E Asia, and it, or more likely a closely related form, also occurs at similar latitudes in N America (Cook 1966a; Preston & Croft 1997; Jonsell et al. 2001).
Names
The Latin specific epithet 'circinatus' means 'circular' or 'rounded', presumably an inaccurate reference to the fan-like shape of the dissected submerged leaves (Gilbert-Carter 1964). The English common name 'Fan-leaved Water-crowfoot' gives a rather better description of the most characteristic feature of the plant, but is a pure 'book name' of no folklore merit.
Threats
R. circinatus is intolerant of both drainage and excessive cultural eutrophication and has been in decline in both Britain and Ireland, probably for 80 or more years (Grime et al. 1988; Preston & Croft 1997; C.D. Preston, in: Preston et al. 2002). In Fermanagh, further investigation will be required to discover whether the species is actually spreading at present, particularly in Lower Lough Erne, in the way that Potamogeton pectinatus (Fennel Pondweed) did, perhaps due to slow but progressive effects of cultural eutrophication. It is also possible that shortly after the population was recorded it began to decline, following the pattern that appears to be the case elsewhere.
Aquilegia vulgaris L., Columbine
Possibly both native and an introduced, neophyte, garden escape; occasional. European temperate, but introduced in N America and New Zealand and part of a circumpolar species complex.
1899; Tetley, W.N.; Dunbar House, Fintonagh Td.
January to September.
Growth form
Aquilegia vulgaris is a tall, erect rosette-forming perennial with a short, stout, erect, rather woody, perennating rootstock. According to Clapham et al. (1962), the rootstock is often branched, yet the plant appears to produce only one rosette of basal leaves and a solitary flowering stem which can reach 100 cm, but more usually measures about 60 cm tall. The plant does not possess any powers of vegetative reproduction, relying entirely on seed for population increase and dispersal.
Native and garden forms and their preferred habitats
Throughout Britain and Ireland, native populations typically grow in woodland glades and fairly open scrub, by woodland rides and streamsides, in damp stony grassland and fen and on scree slopes. Garden escapes tend to be naturalised in more disturbed or man-made sites, eg in quarries, on roadsides and railway banks and on or near old walls. Sometimes, the colour, size or hybrid form of the plant makes it obviously a garden escape, but on other occasions in Fermanagh, as for instance on Knockninny or at Carrickreagh, the typical blue or deep purple form of the species occurs and it appears to be a well established member of a stable, semi-natural plant community. It is then probably best to consider it native.
Columbine is generally associated with limestone rock and calcium- or base-rich soils, though at Lisblake in Fermanagh it grows on acidic peaty roadside banks. It is frost tolerant down to around -25C and can be thought of as a plant of cool conditions, generally preferring deciduous woodland or hedgerow shade and a moisture retentive, though not wet, soil. In gardens, it does not tolerate heavy clay soils (Huxley et al. 1992).
As with Hyacinthoides non-scripta (Bluebell) and other species, it is generally assumed to tolerate and prefer shade conditions; under the frequent grey, cloudy skies that are the norm in western Ireland during much of the growing season, A. vulgaris also grows both in the open on rocky pastures and in disturbed habitats, eg on roadsides and around buildings, as well as occupying partial shade in more natural relatively undisturbed habitats, such as Hazel scrub and lakeshore woodland.
Fermanagh occurrence
A. vulgaris is rare or occasional in Fermanagh, typically occurring either in very sparse populations or as isolated individuals. It has been recorded in a total of 26 tetrads, 4.9% of those in the VC. As the distribution map indicates, it is widely and thinly scattered in the lowlands. Local habitats include woods, shaded banks and lakeshores, open limestone rocks including quarries, roadsides, a churchyard and a graveyard.
Longevity and persistence of garden escapes
Observation shows that in Britain and Ireland some plants are ephemeral while others definitely persist for many years. Garden forms are generally considered short-lived, perhaps surviving two or three years in cultivation (Grey-Wilson 1989). The longest persistence known to us locally in Fermanagh is the stand at Carrickreagh woods on the shore of Lower Lough Erne, which was first recorded by Carruthers over 55 years ago and is still there (Forbes & Northridge 2012).
Increasing occurrence in Britain and Ireland
The New Atlas survey completed in 2000 found that A. vulgaris had increased in Great Britain and Ireland in the 40 years since the original Botanical Society of the British Isles Atlas (Walters & Perring 1962), with a calculated Change Index of +1.70. The change in species presence may be attributed to a combination of better recording and a presumed increase in the frequency of the plant escaping from garden cultivation (R.A. Fitzgerald, in: Preston et al. 2002). The editors of the New Atlas recognise that the native distribution of the species is now totally obscured, and they therefore mapped all A. vulgaris records as if they were native.
Flowering
Flowers are produced in May and June and copious nectar, secreted in five long hooked spurs, attracts bumblebees with sufficiently long tongues as pollinators (Garrard & Streeter 1983). In the absence of pollinators, the plant carries out self-pollination. The wild form of the plant (often blue or purple in colour) has no fragrance, but white forms and other garden varieties are often sweetly perfumed, the scent being reminiscent of cloves. This is probably due to the presence of the genes of A. pyrenaica and other perfumed species, being incorporated through the efforts of plant breeders.
Although the flowers are pendulous, after fertilisation the follicular fruits are held stiffly erect. When ripe, the four or five follicles split open at the top of their inner sides so that the many black, shiny, smooth seeds are shaken out when the wind is strong enough to sway and jerk the tall fruiting branch like a censer (Melderis & Bangerter 1955).
Seed and germination
As is often the case, reproductive performance statistics do not appear to be available in the literature for the species, but the individual seeds are quite large (2-2.5 mm), their average weight varying from 0.78 mg (Grime et al. 1981) to 1.95 mg (Salisbury 1942). In germination tests, only 4% of freshly collected seed germinated, indicating that such seed is dormant, perhaps immature, and requires stratification. After dry storage for six months chilled at 5C, mimicking the overwintering stratification process, only 30% of seed germinated (Grime et al. 1981).
Dispersal
Given the limited height of the fruit above ground and the passive release of the wind dispersed seeds which have no appendage to assist flight, nor any form of edible secondary dispersal lure to entice ants or other animal vectors, one would not expect the seeds to travel from the parent plant more than a very few metres at most. However, A. vulgaris regularly manages to escape into the wild from gardens, indicating that it does possess considerable powers of mobility.
Further studies required
An obvious need exists for population and reproductive ecology studies of this familiar species, since a deep well of ignorance persists regarding the behaviour of the plant. Even the question of survival in the soil seed bank does not appear to have been investigated as the species does not feature in the major survey of this topic in NW Europe (Thompson et al. 1997).
Irish and British occurrence
The distribution of A. vulgaris in the New Atlas shows the species (wild and introduced records combined) widely but fairly thinly scattered in Ireland and nowhere common (Webb et al. 1996). In Great Britain, the map indicates a much greater presence in the S and W, although again it is very widely scattered throughout England and Wales, but thinning markedly towards the north and especially so in Scotland (Preston et al. 2002).
European and World occurrence
Beyond the British Isles, opinions on the taxonomic circumscription of A. vulgaris sens lat. are far from settled, with some authorities including A. atrata and A. nigricans, and others not (Jalas & Suominen 1989). Taking it in the broad sense, A. vulgaris s.l. is considered native in much of W and C Europe, but is regarded as a naturalised introduction in Holland, N Germany and the Nordic countries (Jalas & Suominen 1989, Map 1907). A. vulgaris s.l. is also regarded as native in N Africa, and it is naturalised widely in N America and in temperate areas of the S Hemisphere including New Zealand (Jonsell et al. 2001, p. 312). Together with closely related species, sometimes considered subspecies or varieties, it forms a circumpolar polymorphic complex (Hultén & Fries 1986, Map 879).
Toxins
Aquilegia species are reported to contain toxic alkaloids similar to those in the genus Aconitum (Monk's-hood), ie the cyanogenic glucoside triglochinin (Tjon Sie Fat 1979). However, there is no evidence of recent poisoning by any form of Columbine in Britain and Ireland (Cooper & Johnson 1998). The toxins contained in A. vulgaris are destroyed by heating or drying.
Medicinal and folk uses
The species was formerly employed in herbal medicine, mainly for its antiscorbutic effect. It has fallen out of favour and is little used nowadays, although the root and leaf sap are still sometimes used externally in poultices to treat ulcers, swellings and the commoner skin diseases (Grieve 1931; Vickery 1995). However, a homeopathic remedy is made from the plant and is used in the treatment of nervous afflictions including hysteria. In the past, dried and crushed Columbine seed was used as a parasiticide to rid the hair of lice and to kill external body parasites (Plants for a Future Database Website http://www.pfaf.org/ accessed 2016).
The flowers are so well supplied with nectar they were used to make a tea and were also eaten in salads. However, since the plant contains poisons it is not recommended for any such purpose (Mabey 1972).
Folklore reports that in the Middle Ages, Columbine was believed to be the food of lions, and those who rubbed the sap of the plant on their hands became gifted with the courage of a lion (Grigson 1987).
Names
The origin of the genus name 'Aquilegia' is doubtful but is sometimes said to be derived from the Latin 'aquila' meaning 'an eagle', the flower spur supposedly resembling an eagle's claw (Johnson & Smith 1946). The Latin specific epithet 'vulgaris' means 'common', which the species is not, at least in the wild in Ireland. The English common name 'Columbine' is derived from the Latin 'columba' meaning 'doves'. It alludes to the appearance (especially of the short-spurred form of the plant) which looks like five doves drinking (Stearn 1992).
A large number of alternative common names exist in folklore. Grigson (1987) lists 35 of these names, many of which compare the flower shape to that of a style of bonnet worn by elderly ladies, for instance 'Granny's bonnet' and 'Old Woman's nightcap'. Other folk names refer to various items of ladies' wear, including shoes, slippers and petticoats, and a few of male apparel, eg 'Batchelor's buttons' and 'Rags and Tatters' (Grigson 1987).
Threats
None.