Ranunculus lyallii

Ranunculus lyallii (Mountain buttercup, Mount Cook buttercup, or, although not a lily, Mount Cook lily), is a species of Ranunculus (buttercup), endemic to New Zealand, where it occurs in the South Island and on Stewart Island at altitudes of 700–1,500 m. R. lyallii is the largest species in the genus Ranunculus, growing over a metre in height. The species was discovered by David Lyall, (1817–1895), a noted Scottish botanist and doctor. Contemporary botanist Sir Joseph Hooker, (1817–1911), noted in his Flora Antarctica: Among his many important botanical discoveries in this survey was that of the monarch of all buttercups, the gigantic white-flowered Ranunculus lyallii, the only known species with peltate leaves, the 'water-lily' of the New Zealand shepherds.--Joseph Dalton Hooker (1895) 33 Journal of Botany, p. 209. It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing to 60–100 cm tall (the largest species of buttercup), with a stout rhizome. The leaves are glossy dark green, peltate, 15–40 c......read more on Wikipedia.