Ranunculus fascicularis |
Ranunculus gelidus |
|
---|---|---|
early buttercup, early crowfoot, prairie buttercup, tuft buttercup |
arctic buttercup, modest buttercup, wetslope buttercup |
|
Roots | always both filiform and tuberous on same stem. |
slender, 0.5-1 mm thick. |
Stems | erect or ascending, never rooting nodally, strigose or spreading-strigose, base not bulbous. |
erect or decumbent from short caudices, 3-22 cm, glabrous, each with 1-5 flowers. |
Basal leaves | 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. |
persistent, blades cordate or reniform, 3-parted, 0.5-1.8 × 0.8-3 cm, segments again lobed, base truncate or nearly cordate, apices of segments rounded. |
Flowers | 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. |
pedicels pubescent or glabrous; receptacle glabrous or pubescent; sepals 3-5 × 1-4 mm, pubescent or glabrous; petals 5, 3-6 × 1-5 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
Heads of achenes | 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. |
cylindric to ovoid-cylindric, 4-13 × 4-6 mm; achenes 1.2-2.4 × 0.8-2 mm, glabrous; beak subulate, curved or hooked, 0.4-0.8 mm. |
2n | = 32. |
= 16. |
Ranunculus fascicularis |
Ranunculus gelidus |
|
Phenology | Flowering winter–spring (Jan–Jun). | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). |
Habitat | Grassland or deciduous forest | Open arctic and alpine slopes |
Elevation | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) | 0-4000 m (0-13100 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; MB; ON
|
AK; CO; ID; MT; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; YT; Asia
|
Discussion | 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.) |
Plants with small achenes are often separated as Ranunculus verecundus. Achene size varies continuously over the range given, however, and it is not correlated with the minor shape difference mentioned by L. D. Benson (1948). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Ranunculus | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. fascicularis var. apricus | R. gelidus subsp. grayi, R. grayi, R. verecundus |
Name authority | Muhlenberg ex J. M. Bigelow: Fl. Boston., 137. (1814) | Karelin & Kirilov: Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 15: 133. (1842) |
Web links |