Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus cooleyae |
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sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
Cooley's buttercup |
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Roots | cylindric, 1-3 mm thick. |
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Stems | prostrate or ascending, 4-15 cm, glabrous, each with 1-4 flowers. |
erect from short caudices, not rooting nodally, glabrous, not bulbous-based. |
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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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Basal leaf blades | circular to reniform in outline, 3-5-parted, 0.8-3.8 × 1.7-6.9 cm, segments again lobed, ultimate segments elliptic or oblong, margins crenate, apex rounded; cauline leaf 0-1, scalelike. |
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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 spreading, yellow, 7-11 × 4-7 mm, glabrous; petals 11-15, yellow, 8-12 × 3-5 mm. |
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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. |
hemispheric or spheric, 7-8 × 9-10 mm; achenes 2.4-4.6 × 1.2-2.2 mm, glabrous; beak persistent, filiform, hooked distally, 1-1.8 mm. |
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Tuberous | roots absent. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus cooleyae |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). | |||||
Habitat | Slopes near persistent snowbanks | |||||
Elevation | 500-1800 m (1600-5900 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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AK; WA; BC
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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.) |
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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. Cyrtorhyncha > sect. Arcteranthis | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | Arcteranthis cooleyae, Kumlienia cooleyae | |||||
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | Vasey & Rose ex Rose: Contr. U.S. Natl. Herb. 1: 289. (1894) | ||||
Web links |
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