Ranunculus gelidus |
Ranunculus pusillus |
|
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arctic buttercup, modest buttercup, wetslope buttercup |
low buttercup, low spearwort, weak buttercup |
|
Roots | slender, 0.5-1 mm thick. |
not thickened basally, glabrous. |
Stems | erect or decumbent from short caudices, 3-22 cm, glabrous, each with 1-5 flowers. |
erect or ascending, rooting at most proximal nodes, glabrous. |
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. |
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Proximal cauline leaf blades | ovate or lanceolate, 1.2-4.2 × 0.5-1.2 cm, base acute to truncate, margins entire or denticulate, apex acuminate to rounded. |
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Inflorescences | bracts linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate. |
|
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. |
receptacle glabrous; sepals 4-5, spreading or reflexed from base, 1.5-3 × 1-1.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute; petals 1-3, 1.5-2 × 0.5-1 mm; nectary scales glabrous. |
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. |
hemispheric to cylindric, 2-8 × 2-3 mm; achenes 1-1.2 × 0.6-0.8 mm, ± tuberculate, glabrous; beak absent or nearly so, to 0.1 mm. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Ranunculus gelidus |
Ranunculus pusillus |
|
Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). | Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). |
Habitat | Open arctic and alpine slopes | Ditches, ponds, and swamps |
Elevation | 0-4000 m (0-13100 ft) | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AK; CO; ID; MT; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; NT; YT; Asia
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AL; AR; CA; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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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.) |
In most specimens of Ranunculus pusillus, the heads of achenes are hemispheric to short-ovate and only 2-3 mm. Occasional plants with cylindric heads of achenes 4-6 mm from the Gulf Coast states have been called R. pusillus var. angustifolius. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. gelidus subsp. grayi, R. grayi, R. verecundus | R. oblongifolius, R. pusillus var. angustifolius, R. tener |
Name authority | Karelin & Kirilov: Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 15: 133. (1842) | Poiret: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 6: 99. (1804) |
Web links |