Ranunculus ophioglossifolius a newly recorded element in Hungary

What is it about?

Ranunculus ophioglossifolius is an amphibious plant species with a disjunct Atlantic–Mediterranean distribution, recorded for the first time in Hungary. Two populations were identified in the south-eastern part of the Pannonian Basin, extending the known range of the species northward. Field surveys, morphometric analyses and phytosociological sampling were conducted to assess its ecology, phenotypic variability and differentiation from three morphologically similar Ranunculus species. Linear discriminant analysis based on selected morphological traits provided high classification accuracy among the studied taxa. New functional trait data are presented, including seed mass and vegetative parameters, which are smaller in the Hungarian populations than the reported European values. These differences are consistent with environmentally induced phenotypic variability. Phytosociological data indicate that the species occurs in Pannonian wet saline meadow mosaics on solonetz soil, primarily within temporarily inundated microhabitats associated with Agrostio stoloniferae–Alopecuretum pratensis, Caricetum melanostachyae, and Bolboschoenetum maritimi communities. The occurrence of R. ophioglossifolius in the Pannonian Basin, together with comparable regional records, suggests that the species may represent either a previously overlooked or a recently established element of the Hungarian flora. These findings contribute to the understanding of species distributions and highlight the relevance of integrated taxonomic and ecological approaches in documenting range dynamics.

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