Ranunculus bulbosus
Ranunculus cardiophyllus
bulbous buttercup, bulbous crowfoot, renoncule bulbeuse, St. Anthony's-turnip
heart-leaf buttercup, renoncule pédatifide
never tuberous.
cylindric, 1.3-2 mm thick.
erect, never rooting nodally, strigose or hirsute, base bulbous and cormlike.
erect, 11-53 cm, pilose or glabrous, each with 1-5 flowers.
blades ovate to cordate in outline, 3-foliolate, rarely merely deeply divided, 2–5.3 × 2.4–5.4 cm, leaflets 1–2x-lobed, ultimate segments oblong to obovate, margins toothed, apex rounded in outline.
persistent, blades ovate or elliptic, undivided or innermost 3-5-parted, 2.2-6.9 × 1.8-4.5 cm, base cordate to broadly obtuse, margins crenate with more than 5 crenae, apex rounded to broadly acute.
receptacle pubescent;
sepals reflexed 2–3 mm above base, 6–9 × 2–4 mm, pilose;
petals 5, yellow, 9–13 × 8–11 mm.
pedicels pilose;
receptacle canescent;
sepals 5-8 × 3-7 mm, abaxially pilose, hairs colorless;
petals (0-)5-10, 6-13 × 4-13 mm;
nectary scale ciliate or sometimes glabrous.
ovoid, 6–9 × 5–7 mm;
achenes 2.2–3.2 × 2.2–2.8 mm, glabrous, margin forming narrow rib 0.1–0.2 mm wide;
beak persistent, lanceolate to deltate, 0.2–0.8 mm, slender tip hooked when present.
ovoid or cylindric, 5-16 × 5-9 mm;
achenes 1.8-2.2 × 1.5-2 mm, finely canescent;
beak subulate, curved or straight, 0.6-1.2 mm.
= 32.
Ranunculus bulbosus
Ranunculus cardiophyllus
Ranunculus bulbosus is native to Europe and the Near East but has become naturalized in many other parts of the world. It is considered an introduced weed in the flora.
The Iroquois used Ranunculus bulbosus as a toothache remede and as a a treatment for venereal disease (D. E. Moerman 1986).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Ranunculus cardiophyllus is quite variable. Through most of its range, leaves always have rounded marginal crenae and cordate or truncate bases, stems are often densely pilose (but may be sparsely pilose or glabrous), and achene beaks are curved. In plants from Arizona and New Mexico, however, leaves may have obtuse marginal crenae or broadly obtuse bases, stems are never densely pilose, and achene beaks are sometimes straight. Forms showing some or all of these charactersistics are often separated as R. cardiophyllus var. subsagittatus. The characteristics are poorly correlated, however, and taxonomic recognition is not warranted.
Most specimens of Ranunculus cardiophyllus have all of the basal leaves unlobed, but plants with the innermost basal leaf 3-5-lobed are common. A few specimens, mostly from the northern part of its range, have all of the basal leaves 5-parted or -divided. Those plants approach R. pedatifidus in their morphology, and R. cardiophyllus has sometimes been considered a variety of that species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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