Ranunculus austro-oreganus |
Ranunculus macauleyi |
|
|---|---|---|
|
southern Oregon buttercup |
Rocky Mountain buttercup |
|
| Roots | never tuberous. |
slender, 0.7-1.3 mm thick. |
| Stems | erect or ascending, never rooting nodally, crisped-pilose, base not bulbous. |
erect from short caudices, 6-15 cm, glabrous or sometimes pilose, each with 1-2 flowers. |
| Basal leaves | persistent, blades narrowly elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate, undivided, 1.5-4.5 × 0.5-1.1(-2.8) cm, base acute or long-attenuate, margins entire except for apex, apex truncate or rounded and 3(-5)-toothed. |
|
| 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. |
|
| 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. |
pedicels glabrous or brown-pilose; receptacle glabrous; sepals 6-12 × 2.5-8 mm, abaxially densely brown-pilose; petals 5(-8), 10-19 × 6-17 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
| 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 ovoid or cylindric, 5-10 × 4-5.5 mm; achenes 1.5-1.7 × 1.2-1.3 mm, glabrous; beak slender, straight or recurved, 0.5-1.5(-2.2) mm. |
Ranunculus austro-oreganus |
Ranunculus macauleyi |
|
| Phenology | Flowering spring (May). | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). |
| Habitat | Grassy hillsides | Sunny open soil of alpine meadows and slopes |
| Elevation | 500 m [1600 ft] | 3300-3700 m [10800-12100 ft] |
| Distribution |
OR
|
CO; NM
|
| 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.) |
The type specimen of Ranunculus macauleyi var. brandegeei L. D. Benson, from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, differs from typical R. macauleyi in its tall stem, broad, crenate-laciniate leaves, and sepals with pale or transparent hairs. These characteristics are suggestive of R. inamoenus, and the plant may be of hybrid ancestry. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
| Parent taxa | ||
| Sibling taxa | ||
| Name authority | L. D. Benson: Amer. Midl. Naturalist 52: 341. (1954) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 15: 45. (1879) |
| Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
| Web links |
| |