Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus fasciculatus |
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sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
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Roots | cylindric, 1-3 mm thick. |
fleshy and somewhat tuberous. |
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Stems | prostrate or ascending, 4-15 cm, glabrous, each with 1-4 flowers. |
erect or decumbent, not rooting nodally, hirsute to nearly glabrous, base not bulbous. |
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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 | ovate to deltate in outline, 3(-5)-foliolate, 2.5-14.9 × 2.3-19.9 cm, leaflets 1-2x-lobed or -parted, ultimate segments narrowly oblong to elliptic or lanceolate, margins toothed, apex narrowly acute to rounded-acute. |
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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 hispid; sepals reflexed 1-2 mm above base, 5-10 × 3-5 mm, hispid; petals 11-16, yellow, 8-21 × 2-5 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. |
globose to ovoid, 6-13 × 7-9 mm; achenes 2.4-3.4 × 2-2.4 mm, glabrous, margin forming rib or narrow wing 0.1-0.4 mm wide; beak filiform from deltate base, straight, 1.8-2.5 mm, filiform tip often deciduous, leaving 1-1.2 mm deltate beak. |
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Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus fasciculatus |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). | |||||
Habitat | Stream banks, lakeshores, and marshes | |||||
Elevation | 1000-2200 m (3300-7200 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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AZ; TX; Mexico |
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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.) |
I am following G. L. Nesom (1993) in treating Ranunculus fasciculatus as a distinct species. This taxon was considered a variety of R. macranthus by L. D. Benson (1948) and a variety of R. petiolaris by T. Duncan (1980). These disparate opinions result from different interpretations of Mexican members of the R. petiolaris group. (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. Ranunculus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | R. macranthus var. arsenei, R. petiolaris | |||||
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | Sessé & Moçiño: Fl. Mexic. ed. 2, 134. (1894) | ||||
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