Ranunculus aquatilis |
Ranunculus nivalis |
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renoncule aquatique, water buttercup, water crowfoot, white water butter cup, white water crowfoot, white water crowsfoot, white western buttercup |
renoncule nivale, snow buttercup |
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Roots | slender, 0.4-0.8 mm thick. |
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Stems | glabrous. |
erect from short caudices, 4-22 cm, glabrous or sparsely pilose, each with 1 flower. |
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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 or deciduous, blades reniform, 3-parted, 0.6-2 × 1.3-3 cm, at least lateral segments again lobed or margins toothed, base truncate or cordate, apices of segments rounded-apiculate. |
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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 or brown-pilose; receptacle glabrous; sepals 6-8 × 3-5 mm, abaxially densely brown-hispid; petals 5(-6), 8-11 × 7-12 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. |
cylindric or ovoid-cylindric, 7-14 × 5-6 mm; achenes 1.5-2.2 × 1.2-1.6 mm, glabrous; beak slender, straight, 1-2 mm. |
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2n | = 48. |
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Ranunculus aquatilis |
Ranunculus nivalis |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). | |||||
Habitat | Wet or dry alpine meadows, often around late snowbeds, cliffs, and streamsides | |||||
Elevation | 0-1300 m (0-4300 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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AK; AB; BC; NF; NT; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
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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.) |
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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 | |||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 556. (1753) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 553. (1753) | ||||
Web links |
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