Ranunculus fascicularis |
Ranunculus sulphureus |
|
---|---|---|
early buttercup, early crowfoot, prairie buttercup, tuft buttercup |
renoncule soufrée, sulphur buttercup |
|
Roots | always both filiform and tuberous on same stem. |
slender, 0.4-1 mm thick. |
Stems | erect or ascending, never rooting nodally, strigose or spreading-strigose, base not bulbous. |
erect from short caudices, 3-20 cm, sparsely pilose to glabrous, each with 1-3 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 transversely elliptic to orbiculate, 1-3 × 1-3 cm, base obtuse to nearly truncate, margins crenate or else blades shallowly 3-lobed with crenate lateral lobes, apex rounded or rounded-apiculate. |
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 sparsely brown-pilose; receptacle brown-pilose; sepals 6-8 × 3-6 mm, abaxially densely brown-hispid; petals 5(-6), 8-12 × 6-10 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. |
ovoid-cylindric or ovoid, 6-7(-9) × 5-6 mm; achenes 1.8-2.2 × 1.4-1.8 mm, glabrous or sparsely brown-hispid; beak slender, straight or curved, 0.8-1.4 mm. |
2n | = 32. |
= 42, ca. 80, ca. 84, 96, ca. 98. |
Ranunculus fascicularis |
Ranunculus sulphureus |
|
Phenology | Flowering winter–spring (Jan–Jun). | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Sep). |
Habitat | Grassland or deciduous forest | Meadows and seepy slopes, often around late snowbeds, bogs, and streamsides |
Elevation | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) | 0-1100 m (0-3600 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; BC; NF; NT; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
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.) |
Material of Ranunculus sulphureus from the Aleutian Islands has 3-lobed leaves similar to those of R. nivalis. These plants are sometimes separated as R. sulphureus var. intercedens. (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. sulphureus var. intercedens |
Name authority | Muhlenberg ex J. M. Bigelow: Fl. Boston., 137. (1814) | Solander: in C. J. Phipps, Voy. North Pole, 202. (1774) |
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