Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus |
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sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
elliptical buttercup, narrow leaf smooth buttercup, sagebrush 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. |
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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 or elliptic to very narrowly elliptic, 1.5-5.2 × 0.7-2 cm, base obtuse to attenuate, margins entire or rarely with 3 broad, shallow, distal crenae, apex acute to rounded. |
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Inflorescences | bracts with middle lobe much larger than lateral lobes. |
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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. |
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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. |
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2n | = 80. |
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Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus |
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Phenology | Flowering late winter–summer (Mar–Jul). | |||||
Habitat | Moist seepy slopes and moist depressions in grassland | |||||
Elevation | 500-3600 m (1600-11800 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK |
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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. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes > Ranunculus glaberrimus | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | R. ellipticus, R. oreogenes | |||||
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | (Greene) Greene: Fl. Francisc. 1: 298. (1891) | ||||
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