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common water plantain buttercup, kidney-leaf buttercup, plantain-leaf buttercup, water-plantain buttercup

hairy buttercup, hairy crowfoot

Roots

slender or fusiform-thickened basally, glabrous.

Stems

erect or ascending, not rooting nodally, glabrous or hirsute.

nearly erect, hispid, base not bulbous.

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.

Inflorescences

bracts lanceolate.

Flowers

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.

pedicellate;

receptacle pilose;

sepals 5, reflexed, 3-8 × 1.5-3 mm, pilose;

petals 5, 7-10 × 4-8 mm.

Heads of achenes

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.

globose or ovoid, 5-8 × 6-7 mm;

achenes 15-35 per head, 2-3 × 2-3 mm, faces sparsely papillate or sometimes smooth, glabrous, margin smooth;

beak oblong to deltate, curved, 0.4-0.7 mm.

Basal

and lower cauline leaf blades ovate to cordate, 3-foliolate, 2-6 × 2-6 cm, leaflets again parted, leaflet base truncate to acute, margins crenate-dentate to crenate-lobulate, apex rounded to obtuse.

Ranunculus alismifolius

Ranunculus sardous

Phenology Flowering late winter–summer (Mar–Aug).
Habitat Roadsides, fields, open woods
Elevation 0-200 m (0-700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; IL; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; BC; native to Europe; Pacific Islands; Australia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 6 (6 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ranunculus sardous was collected in New Brunswick and Ontario in the 1800s, but it apparently has not persisted in those provinces.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Petals 7–12 on most flowers, 2–3 mm broad.
var. montanus
1. Petals 4–6(–8), 2–8 mm broad.
→ 2
2. Stems 3.5–8 mm thick; leaf margins serrulate.
var. alismifolius
2. Stems 1–3 mm thick; leaf margins entire.
→ 3
3. Leaf blades ovate or elliptic.
var. alismellus
3. Leaf blades broadly to narrowly lanceolate.
→ 4
4. Petals 10–14 mm; California and Nevada.
var. lemmonii
4. Petals 5–8 mm; widespread.
→ 5
5. Roots fusiform-thickened proximally; stems and petioles glabrous or pubescent.
var. davisii
5. Roots not or scarcely fusiform-thickened proximally; stems and petioles glabrous.
var. hartwegii
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Flammula Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Echinella
Sibling taxa
R. abortivus, R. acriformis, R. acris, R. adoneus, R. allegheniensis, R. allenii, R. ambigens, R. andersonii, R. aquatilis, R. arizonicus, R. arvensis, R. auricomus, R. austro-oreganus, R. bonariensis, R. bulbosus, R. californicus, R. canus, R. cardiophyllus, R. cooleyae, R. cymbalaria, R. eschscholtzii, R. fascicularis, R. fasciculatus, R. ficaria, R. flabellaris, R. flammula, R. gelidus, R. glaberrimus, R. glacialis, R. gmelinii, R. gormanii, R. harveyi, R. hebecarpus, R. hederaceus, R. hispidus, R. hydrocharoides, R. hyperboreus, R. hystriculus, R. inamoenus, R. jovis, R. kamtschaticus, R. lapponicus, R. laxicaulis, R. lobbii, R. macauleyi, R. macounii, R. macranthus, R. marginatus, R. micranthus, R. muricatus, R. nivalis, R. occidentalis, R. oresterus, R. orthorhynchus, R. pacificus, R. pallasii, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, R. pusillus, R. pygmaeus, R. ranunculinus, R. recurvatus, R. repens, R. rhomboideus, R. sabinei, R. sardous, R. sceleratus, R. sulphureus, R. testiculatus, R. trilobus, R. triternatus, R. turneri, R. uncinatus
R. abortivus, R. acriformis, R. acris, R. adoneus, R. alismifolius, R. allegheniensis, R. allenii, R. ambigens, R. andersonii, R. aquatilis, R. arizonicus, R. arvensis, R. auricomus, R. austro-oreganus, R. bonariensis, R. bulbosus, R. californicus, R. canus, R. cardiophyllus, R. cooleyae, R. cymbalaria, R. eschscholtzii, R. fascicularis, R. fasciculatus, R. ficaria, R. flabellaris, R. flammula, R. gelidus, R. glaberrimus, R. glacialis, R. gmelinii, R. gormanii, R. harveyi, R. hebecarpus, R. hederaceus, R. hispidus, R. hydrocharoides, R. hyperboreus, R. hystriculus, R. inamoenus, R. jovis, R. kamtschaticus, R. lapponicus, R. laxicaulis, R. lobbii, R. macauleyi, R. macounii, R. macranthus, R. marginatus, R. micranthus, R. muricatus, R. nivalis, R. occidentalis, R. oresterus, R. orthorhynchus, R. pacificus, R. pallasii, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, R. pusillus, R. pygmaeus, R. ranunculinus, R. recurvatus, R. repens, R. rhomboideus, R. sabinei, R. sceleratus, R. sulphureus, R. testiculatus, R. trilobus, R. triternatus, R. turneri, R. uncinatus
Subordinate taxa
R. alismifolius var. alismellus, R. alismifolius var. alismifolius, R. alismifolius var. davisii, R. alismifolius var. hartwegii, R. alismifolius var. lemmonii, R. alismifolius var. montanus
Synonyms R. parvulus
Name authority Geyer ex Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 295. (1849) Crantz: Stirp. Austr. Fasc. 2: 84. (1763)
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