Ranunculus gelidus |
Ranunculus sceleratus |
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arctic buttercup, modest buttercup, wetslope buttercup |
blister buttercup, celery-leaf buttercup, celery-leaf crowfoot, cursed buttercup, cursed crowfoot, cursed crowsfoot, renoncule scélérate |
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Roots | slender, 0.5-1 mm thick. |
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Stems | erect or decumbent from short caudices, 3-22 cm, glabrous, each with 1-5 flowers. |
erect, glabrous, rooting at base, only very rarely rooting at proximal nodes. |
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Leaves | basal and cauline, basal and proximal cauline leaf blades reniform to semicircular in outline, 3-lobed or -parted, 1-5 × 1.6-6.8 cm, base truncate to cordate, segments usually again lobed or parted, sometimes undivided, margins crenate or crenate-lobulate, apex rounded or occasionally obtuse. |
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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. |
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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. |
receptacle pubescent or glabrous; sepals 3-5, reflexed from or near base, 2-5 × 1-3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute; petals 3-5, 2-5 × 1-3 mm; nectary on petal surface, scale poorly developed and forming crescent-shaped or circular ridge surrounding but not covering nectary; style absent. |
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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. |
ellipsoid or cylindric heads, 5-13 × 3-7 mm; achenes 1-1.2 × 0.8-1 mm, glabrous; beak deltate, usually straight, 0.1 mm. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Ranunculus gelidus |
Ranunculus sceleratus |
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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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AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Eurasia
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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). Ranunculus sceleratus varieties were used by the Thompson Indians as a poison for their arrow points (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 | Hecatonia scelerata | ||||
Name authority | Karelin & Kirilov: Bull. Soc. Imp. Naturalistes Moscou 15: 133. (1842) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 551. (1753) | ||||
Web links |
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