Ranunculus fascicularis
Ranunculus canus
early buttercup, early crowfoot, prairie buttercup, tuft buttercup
Hartweg's buttercup, Sacramento Valley buttercup
always both filiform and tuberous on same stem.
never tuberous.
erect or ascending, never rooting nodally, strigose or spreading-strigose, base not bulbous.
erect to decumbent, never rooting nodally, hirsute, pilose, or glabrous, base not bulbous.
blades ovate to broadly ovate in outline, 3-5-foliolate, 2.1-4.7 × 1.9-4.5 cm, leaflets undivided or 1x-lobed or -parted, ultimate segments oblanceolate or obovate, margins entire or with few teeth, apex rounded-acute to rounded-obtuse.
blades ovate to narrowly ovate in outline, 3-parted or -foliolate, 3.3-9.5 ×3.5-9.4 cm, leaflets or segments 1-3x-lobed, ultimate segments ovate or oblong-ovate to lanceolate, margins toothed, apex acute or obtuse.
receptacle hispid or glabrous;
sepals spreading or sometimes reflexed from base, 5-7 × 2-3 mm, hispid or glabrous;
petals 5(-7), yellow, 8-14 × 3-6 mm.
receptacle glabrous;
sepals reflexed 1-2 mm above base, 3-8 × 2-4 mm, hirsute;
petals 5-17, yellow, 6-12 × 3-6 mm.
globose or ovoid, 5-9 × 5-8 mm;
achenes 2-2.8 × 1.8-2.2 mm, glabrous, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide;
beak persistent, filiform, straight, 1.2-2.8 mm.
hemispheric to globose, 6-9 × 7-10 mm;
achenes 3.4-4.4 × 2.4-3.6 mm, glabrous or rarely hispid, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide;
beak persistent, deltate or lance-deltate, curved, 0.2-1.2 mm.
= 32.
Ranunculus fascicularis
Ranunculus canus
Ranunculus fascicularis is very similar to R. hispidus var. hispidus, and herbarium specimens without underground parts may be difficult to identify. Ranunculus fascicularis grows in drier habitats; segments of its leaves are commonly oblanceolate and blunt, with few or no marginal teeth; and its petals are widest at or below the middle. Ranunculus hispidus var. hispidus is usually larger in all its parts (leaves, flowers, heads of achenes); leaf segments are variable in shape but their apices are normally sharper and their marginal teeth more numerous, and petals are widest above the middle.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Ranunculus canus intergrades with R. occidentalis var. occidentalis and R. californicus, and some populations can be difficult to assign to species. The deltate or lance-deltate achene beak of R. canus, however, which is usually 0.8-1.2 mm wide at the base and less than 1.5 times as long as wide, contrasts with the narrower beaks of the other two species, which are usually less than 0.6 mm wide and at least twice as long as wide.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Petals 5–7; Sacramento Valley and adjacent foothills. | var. canus |
1. Petals 13–17; Transverse Ranges. | var. ludovicianus |
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