Ranunculus austro-oreganus |
Ranunculus acris |
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|---|---|---|
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southern Oregon buttercup |
acrid buttercup, bouton d'or, meadow buttercup, renoncule âcre, tall buttercup, tall crowfoot |
|
| Roots | never tuberous. |
never tuberous. |
| Stems | erect or ascending, never rooting nodally, crisped-pilose, base not bulbous. |
erect from short caudex or rhizome, never rooting nodally, hispid, strigose, or glabrous, base not bulbous. |
| Basal leaf blades | broadly rhombic to semicircular in outline, 3-parted, 2.8-4.3 × 3-5.5 cm, segments 3-lobed, ultimate segments lanceolate, margins entire or toothed, apex narrowly acute or acuminate. |
pentagonal in outline, deeply 3-5-parted, 1.8-5.2 × 2.7-9.8 cm, segments 1-2x-lobed or -parted, ultimate segments narrowly elliptic or oblong to lanceolate, margins toothed or lobulate, apex acute to rounded. |
| Flowers | receptacle glabrous; sepals reflexed 1 mm above base, 4-6 × 1.5-3 mm, densely pilose; petals 5, abaxially red, adaxially yellow, 10-12 × 4-6 mm. |
receptacle glabrous; sepals spreading, 4-6(-9) × 2-5 mm, hispid; petals 5, yellow, 8-11(-17) × 7-13 mm. |
| Heads | of achenes hemispheric, 4-7 × 7-10 mm; achenes 3.4-4.2 × 2.8-3.2 mm, sometimes basally pilose, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide; beak persistent, lance-subulate, straight or somewhat curved distally, 1.6-2.6 mm. |
of achenes globose, 5-7(-10) mm wide; achenes 2-3 × 1.8-2.4 mm, glabrous, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide; beak persistent, deltate, usually with tip short or long, straight or curved, subulate, 0.2-1 mm. |
| 2n | = 14. |
|
Ranunculus austro-oreganus |
Ranunculus acris |
|
| Phenology | Flowering spring (May). | Flowering spring–summer (May–Sep). |
| Habitat | Grassy hillsides | Meadows, stream banks, roadsides, and old fields |
| Elevation | 500 m [1600 ft] | 0-2300 m [0-7500 ft] |
| Distribution |
OR
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AK; AL; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM; South America; Pacific Islands; Greenland; Eurasia; Australia [Largely introduced]
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| Discussion | Of conservation concern. Ranunculus austro-oreganus is doubtfully distinct from R. occidentalis var. howellii. L. D. Benson (1954) described the stem as bulbous-based and similar to that of R. bulbosus, but a differentiated base is not evident in material I have seen (some of which was cited by Benson). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Ranunculus acris is variable in form and division of leaves, size of achene beak, and form of indument on the proximal stem. Most North American plants are weedy and have poorly differentiated caudices; these forms probably were introduced from Eurasia. Rhizomatous plants with large flowers (parenthetic measurements above) found in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and in Greenland are probably native. Aleutian populations of this form have been called R. acris var. frigidus Regel or R. grandis Honda var. austrokurilensis (Tatewaki) H. Hara. Both names were originally applied to Asiatic plants, and their applicability to American specimens is open to question. Some Native American tribes used Ranunculus acris as an analgesic, a dermatological or oral aid, an antidiarrheal, antihermorrhagic, and a sedative (D. E. Moerman 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
| Parent taxa | ||
| Sibling taxa | ||
| Synonyms | R. acris var. latisectus | |
| Name authority | L. D. Benson: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 52: 341. (1954) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 554. (1753) |
| Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
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