Flora of North America species comparison

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Ranunculus flammula var. ovalis
Photo is of parent taxon

creeping spearwort, greater creeping spearwort, lesser spearwort, lesser water buttercup
Stems

prostrate or sometimes ascending, 0.5-2 mm thick.
Leaf

blades lance-elliptic to lanceolate or linear, 0.8-3.3 × 0.2-0.8 cm.
Flowers

sepals 2-3 mm;

petals 3-5 × 2-3 mm.
2n

= 32.

Ranunculus flammula var. ovalis
Phenology Flowering spring–summer (May–Sep).
Habitat Muddy ground or shallow water
Elevation 0-2900 m (0-9500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; CT; ID; MA; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NH; NM; NV; NY; OR; PA; UT; VT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ranunculus flammula var. ovalis, as currently understood, is heterogeneous. Many specimens from throughout the cited range scarcely differ from specimens of R. flammula var. reptans and perhaps should be included in the latter variety. Material from the Pacific slope, however, may be intermediate between R. flammula var. reptans and R. flammula var. flammula or may show various combinations of the distinguishing characteristics of the two. Biosystematic study of R. flammula as a whole will be needed for a meaningful treatment of these populations to be possible.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Flammula > Ranunculus flammula
Sibling taxa
R. flammula var. flammula, R. flammula var. reptans
Synonyms R. filiformis var. ovalis, R. flammula var. samolifolius, R. reptans var. ovalis
Name authority (J. M. Bigelow) L. D. Benson: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 69: 305. (1942)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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