Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus laxicaulis |
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sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
Mississippi buttercup |
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Roots | cylindric, 1-3 mm thick. |
not thickened basally, glabrous. |
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Stems | prostrate or ascending, 4-15 cm, glabrous, each with 1-4 flowers. |
erect or ascending, often rooting at proximal nodes, glabrous or sparsely pilose. |
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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 | ovate to lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, 1.5-5.7 × 0.4-2.4 cm, base cordate to acute, margins finely denticulate or entire, apex broadly rounded to acuminate. |
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Inflorescences | bracts linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate. |
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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 4-5, spreading or reflexed from base, 2-3 × 1.5-3 mm, glabrous or pubescent; petals 4-6, 2-6 × 1-2 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. |
hemispheric to ovoid, 2-4 × 2-3 mm; achenes 0.8-1 × 0.8 mm, glabrous; beak deciduous, leaving stump 0.1-0.2 mm. |
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Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus laxicaulis |
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Phenology | Flowering late winter–summer (Mar–Jul). | |||||
Habitat | Around ponds and ditches, in meadows, roadsides, and open woods | |||||
Elevation | 0-100 m (0-300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
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AL; AR; DE; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
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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. Flammula | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | R. mississippiensis, R. subcordatus, R. texensis | |||||
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | Darby: Man. Bot. 2: 4. (1841) | ||||
Web links |
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