Ranunculus gelidus |
Ranunculus glaberrimus |
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arctic buttercup, modest buttercup, wetslope buttercup |
sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
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Roots | slender, 0.5-1 mm thick. |
cylindric, 1-3 mm thick. |
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Stems | erect or decumbent from short caudices, 3-22 cm, glabrous, each with 1-5 flowers. |
prostrate or ascending, 4-15 cm, glabrous, each with 1-4 flowers. |
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Basal leaves | 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. |
persistent, blades reniform or obovate to very narrowly elliptic, 0.7-5.2 × 1-2 cm, base truncate, obtuse or attenuate, margins entire or with 3 broad, apical crenae, apex rounded to acute. |
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Flowers | 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. |
pedicels glabrous or nearly so; receptacle glabrous; sepals 5-8 × 3-7 mm, abaxially glabrous or sparsely pilose, hairs colorless; petals 5-10, 8-13 × 5-12 mm; nectary scale glabrous or ciliate. |
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Heads of achenes | 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. |
globose, 7-12(-20) × 6-11(-20) mm; achenes 1.4-2.2 × 1.1-1.8 mm, usually finely pubescent; beak subulate or lance-subulate, straight or curved, 0.4-1 mm. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Ranunculus gelidus |
Ranunculus glaberrimus |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). | |||||
Habitat | Open arctic and alpine slopes | |||||
Elevation | 0-4000 m (0-13100 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AK; CO; ID; MT; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; YT; Asia
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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Discussion | 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.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). Usually only a minority of the ovaries develop, and the fruiting receptacle is completely hidden by aborted ovaries. Populations growing at high elevations (Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus) and low elevations (var. glaberrimus) are usually well differentiated, but these varieties intergrade at intermediate elevations. The Thompson Indians rubbed the flowers or the whole plant of Ranunculus glaberrimus on arrow points as a poison (D. E. Moerman 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | R. gelidus subsp. grayi, R. grayi, R. verecundus | |||||
Name authority | Karelin & Kirilov: Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 15: 133. (1842) | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | ||||
Web links |
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