Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus marginatus |
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sagebrush buttercup, smooth buttercup |
margined 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, 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. |
blades reniform to semicircular, undivided or shallowly 3-lobed, 2.5-5 × 3-7 cm, base truncate to nearly cordate, margins crenate or dentate, apex rounded or obtuse. |
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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. |
pedicellate; receptacle hispid; sepals 5, reflexed 1 mm from base, 3-5 × 1-2 mm, hispid; petals 5, 4-5 × 2-3.5 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 to globose, 4 × 6 mm; achenes 15-20 per head, 2.5-3 × 2-2.5 mm, faces covered with high sharp tubercles or low spines, glabrous, margin smooth; beak deltate, straight, 0.8-1 mm. |
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Ranunculus glaberrimus |
Ranunculus marginatus |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Mar–May). | |||||
Habitat | Roadsides | |||||
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; LA; TX; native to Europe [Introduced in North America] |
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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.) |
A form of Ranunculus marginatus, with the fruits weakly tuberculate or almost smooth, similar to the smooth-fruited forms of R. sardous, is found in Europe; it is not known from North America. (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. Echinella | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 1: 12. (1829) | d'Urville: Mém. Soc. Linn. Paris 1: 318. (1822) | ||||
Web links |
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