Ranunculus cymbalaria
Ranunculus cardiophyllus
alkali buttercup, renoncule cymbalaire, seaside buttercup, seaside crowfoot, shore buttercup
heart-leaf buttercup, renoncule pédatifide
cylindric, 1.3-2 mm thick.
dimorphic, flowering stems erect or ascending, stolons prostrate, rooting nodally, glabrous or sparsely hirsute, not bulbous-based.
erect, 11-53 cm, pilose or glabrous, each with 1-5 flowers.
simple and undivided, blades oblong to cordate or circular, 0.7-3.8 × 0.8-3.2 cm, base rounded to cordate, margins crenate or crenate-serrate, apex rounded.
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 hispid or glabrous;
sepals spreading, 2.5-6 × 1.5-3 mm, glabrous;
petals 5, yellow, 2-7 × 1-3 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.
long-ovoid or cylindric, 6-12 × 4-5(-9) mm;
achenes 1-1.4(-2.2) × 0.8-1.2 mm, glabrous;
beak persistent, conic, straight, 0.1-0.2 mm.
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.
roots absent.
= 16.
= 32.
Ranunculus cymbalaria
Ranunculus cardiophyllus
Various Navaho groups used Ranunculus cymbalaria as a venereal aid, an emetic, and a ceremonial medicine. The Kawaiisu used it as a dermatological aid (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.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
BC
WA
