Ranunculus adoneus |
Ranunculus alismifolius |
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alpine buttercup |
common water plantain buttercup, kidney-leaf buttercup, plantain-leaf buttercup, water-plantain buttercup |
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Roots | slender, 0.8-1.4 mm thick. |
slender or fusiform-thickened basally, glabrous. |
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Stems | erect from large caudices, 9-25 cm, glabrous, each with 1-3 flowers. |
erect or ascending, not rooting nodally, glabrous or hirsute. |
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Leaves | basal leaf blades with base acute; proximal cauline leaf blades lanceolate, ovate, or elliptic, 1.8-14.1 × 0.7-2.9 cm, base acuminate to rounded, margins entire or serrulate, apex obtuse to acuminate. |
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Basal leaves | persistent, blades circular to reniform in outline, 2-3x-dissected into linear segments, 0.9-2.5 × 1.1-2.8 cm, base obtuse, margins entire, apices of segments narrowly rounded to acute. |
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Inflorescences | bracts lanceolate. |
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Flowers | pedicels glabrous; receptacle glabrous; sepals 4-11 × 3-7 mm, abaxially sparsely pilose, hairs colorless; petals 5-10, 8-15 × 8-19 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
receptacle glabrous; sepals 5, spreading or reflexed from base, 2-6 × 1-4 mm, glabrous or hirsute; petals 5-12, 5-14 × 2-8 mm; nectary scales glabrous. |
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Heads of achenes | ovoid, 6-12 × 5-9 mm; achenes 1.8-2.4 × 1-1.4 mm, glabrous or nearly so; beak subulate, straight, 1.2-1.7 mm. |
hemispheric to globose, 3-7 × 4-8 mm; achenes 1.6-2.8 × 1.2-2 mm, glabrous or rarely hispid; beak lance-subulate, straight or weakly curved, 0.4-1.2 mm. |
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2 | n = 16. |
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Ranunculus adoneus |
Ranunculus alismifolius |
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Habitat | Spring-summer (May–Sep). Alpine and subalpine meadows, usually around melting snowbanks | |||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 2500-4000 m (8200-13100 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CO; ID; MT; NV; UT; WY
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CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
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Discussion | Most collections of Ranunculus adoneus from Colorado, including the type specimen, tend to be small, with narrow leaf segments (only 0.5-1 mm wide) and large flowers. The more widespread form, with leaf segments 1-2 mm wide and more variable flowers, has been called R. adoneus var. alpinus. The leaf and flower characteristics are very poorly correlated, however, and specimens referable to var. alpinus vary greatly in stature and flower size, so the two forms scarcely merit formal recognition. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 6 (6 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Flammula | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | R. adoneus var. alpinus, R. eschscholtzii var. adoneus, R. eschscholtzii var. alpinus | |||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | A. Gray: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 15: 56. (1863) | Geyer ex Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 295. (1849) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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