Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus ambigens |
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sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
water-plantain crowfoot, waterplantain spearwort |
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Roots | cylindric, 1-3 mm thick. |
not thickened basally, glabrous or somewhat canescent proximally. |
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Stems | prostrate or ascending, 4-15 cm, glabrous, each with 1-4 flowers. |
erect or ascending, rooting at proximal nodes, glabrous or sparsely hirsute. |
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Basal leaves | 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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Proximal cauline leaf blades | lanceolate, 5.9-12.2 × 1.1-2.4 cm, base rounded-obtuse to acuminate, margins denticulate, apex acuminate. |
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Inflorescences | bracts linear or lanceolate. |
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Flowers | 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. |
receptacle glabrous; sepals 5, spreading or sometimes reflexed from base, 3-5 × 2-3 mm, glabrous; petals 5, 5-8 × 2-3 mm; nectary scales glabrous. |
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Heads of achenes | 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. |
short-ovoid to depressed-globose, 5-7 × 4-8 mm; achenes 1.8 × 1.2-1.4 mm, glabrous; beak lanceolate, straight, 0.6-1.2 mm. |
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Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus ambigens |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (May–Aug). | |||||
Habitat | Creeks, ponds, ditches, marshes | |||||
Elevation | 0-700 m (0-2300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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AL; CT; DC; DE; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; NC; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; TN; VA; WV
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Discussion | 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.) |
The name Ranunculus obtusiusculus Rafinesque has been mistakenly used for R. ambigens. (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 | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Flammula | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | S. Watson: Bibl. Index N. Amer. Bot. 1: 16. (1878) | ||||
Web links |
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