Ranunculus aquatilis |
Ranunculus adoneus |
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renoncule aquatique, water buttercup, water crowfoot, white water butter cup, white water crowfoot, white water crowsfoot, white western buttercup |
alpine buttercup |
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Roots | slender, 0.8-1.4 mm thick. |
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Stems | glabrous. |
erect from large caudices, 9-25 cm, glabrous, each with 1-3 flowers. |
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Leaves | laminate and filiform-dissected; laminate leaf blades reniform, 3-parted, 0.4-1.1 × 0.7-2.3 cm, segments obovate or fan-shaped, shallowly cleft, margins crenate; filiform-dissected leaves with stipules gradually tapering upward, connate for their whole length. |
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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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Flowers | receptacle hispid, rarely glabrous; sepals spreading or reflexed, 2-4 × 1-2 mm, glabrous; petals 5, 4-7 × 1-5 mm; style 0.1-0.8 mm. |
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. |
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Fruiting pedicels | usually recurved. |
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Heads of achenes | hemispheric to ovoid, 2-4 × 2-5 mm; achenes 1-2 × 0.8-1.4 mm, glabrous or hispid; beak persistent, filiform, 0.1-1.2 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. |
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2 | n = 16. |
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Ranunculus aquatilis |
Ranunculus adoneus |
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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 |
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Eurasia
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CO; ID; MT; NV; UT; WY
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Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Ranunculus aquatilis is very variable. In the past it has often been treated as three or four species and many varieties. These segregate taxa have been based on the size, petiolation and rigidity of the leaves (now known to be primarily under environmental control), petal size and curvature of the fruiting pedicel (both sometimes variable along single stem), and number of achenes per head and length of achene beak (which vary continuously and are not correlated with one another). Unless reliable characters can be found, only two of the taxa recognized in older floras can be maintained. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Batrachium | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Batrachium aquatile | R. adoneus var. alpinus, R. eschscholtzii var. adoneus, R. eschscholtzii var. alpinus | ||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 556. (1753) | A. Gray: Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 15: 56. (1863) | ||||
Web links |
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