Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus lapponicus |
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sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
Lapland buttercup, renoncule de lapponie |
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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. |
prostrate, buried, 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 | reniform, deeply 3-parted, 1.1-2.6 × 1.6-4.3 cm, segments undivided or 1x cleft, margins crenate, apex rounded. |
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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 or reflexed from base, 4-7 × 2-5 mm, glabrous; petals yellow, 5-6 × 2-3 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, 5-7 × 8-10 mm; achenes 3.8-4.2 × 2-2.2 mm, glabrous; beak persistent, lanceolate, curved, tip hooked, 1.6-2.4 mm. |
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Tuberous | roots absent. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus lapponicus |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Jul). | |||||
Habitat | Boggy places and lakesides in tundra, muskeg, and boreal forest | |||||
Elevation | 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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AK; ME; MI; MN; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
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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.) |
Starving individuals among western Eskimo groups ate the soaked plant of Ranunculus lapponicus as a dietary aid before consuming other food (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. Coptidium | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 553. (1753) | ||||
Web links |
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