Ranunculus adoneus
Ranunculus glacialis
alpine buttercup
glacier buttercup
slender, 0.8-1.4 mm thick.
erect from large caudices, 9-25 cm, glabrous, each with 1-3 flowers.
erect or ascending from caudices, not rooting nodally, distally glabrous or brown-pilose, not bulbous-based.
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.
blades reniform to broadly triangular in outline, 3-foliolate or deeply 3-parted, 1-4 × 1.6-4.4 cm, leaflets or segments 1-2x-parted, ultimate segments elliptic to oblanceolate or almost linear, margins entire or occasionally with 1-2 teeth, apex rounded to obtuse.
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 or brown-pilose;
sepals spreading, 7-12 × 4-9 mm, brown-pilose;
petals initially white, usually becoming red with age, 9-15 × 7-14(-18) mm.
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.
n = 16.
roots absent.
heads hemispheric, 5-8 × 7-16 mm;
fruit wall smooth, not veined, loose but not inflated, winged along suture, fruits winged achenes;
achenes 2.6-3 × 1.4-2 mm, glabrous;
beak persistent, lanceolate, 0.8-2.3 mm.
Ranunculus adoneus
Ranunculus glacialis
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 2 (2 in the flora).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Stems glabrous or with few hairs at nodes; caudices well-developed; basal leaves compound, ultimate segments elliptic to oblanceolate; receptacle glabrous; Greenland. | var. glacialis |
1. Stems distally brown-pilose; caudices short; basal leaves deeply parted or compound, ultimate segments oblanceolate to almost linear; receptacle brown-pilose; Alaska. | var. camissonis |
CalFlora
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
