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glacier buttercup

greater yellow water crowfoot, renoncule à évantails, water buttercup, yellow water-buttercup, yellow water-crowfoot

Stems

erect or ascending from caudices, not rooting nodally, distally glabrous or brown-pilose, not bulbous-based.

floating or prostrate, glabrous, rooting at proximal nodes.

Leaves

basal leaves seldom present, cauline leaf blades semicircular to reniform, 1-6x-lobed, parted, or dissected 1.2-7.3 × 1.9-10.8 cm, base truncate or cordate, segment margins entire or crenate, apex rounded to filiform.

Basal leaf blades

reniform to broadly triangular in outline, 3-foliolate or deeply 3-parted, 1-4 × 1.6-4.4 cm, leaflets or segments 1-2x-parted, ultimate segments elliptic to oblanceolate or almost linear, margins entire or occasionally with 1-2 teeth, apex rounded to obtuse.

Flowers

receptacle glabrous or brown-pilose;

sepals spreading, 7-12 × 4-9 mm, brown-pilose;

petals initially white, usually becoming red with age, 9-15 × 7-14(-18) mm.

receptacle sparsely hispid;

sepals 5, spreading or weakly reflexed, 5-7 × 3-6 mm, glabrous;

petals 5-6(-14), 7-12 × 5-9 mm;

nectary scale variable, crescent-shaped, funnel-shaped, or flaplike;

style 0.8-1.2 mm.

Heads of achenes

ovoid, 8-10 × 7-8 mm;

achenes 1.8-2.2 × 1.6-2.2 mm, glabrous;

beak lanceolate, straight, 1-1.8 mm.

Tuberous

roots absent.

Fruiting

heads hemispheric, 5-8 × 7-16 mm;

fruit wall smooth, not veined, loose but not inflated, winged along suture, fruits winged achenes;

achenes 2.6-3 × 1.4-2 mm, glabrous;

beak persistent, lanceolate, 0.8-2.3 mm.

2n

= 32.

Ranunculus glacialis

Ranunculus flabellaris

Phenology Flowering late spring–summer (May–Aug).
Habitat Shallow water or drying mud
Elevation 0-1500 m (0-4900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; Eurasia
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; CT; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

The Fox tribes used Ranunculus flabellaris as a cold remedy and a respiratory aid (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Key
1. Stems glabrous or with few hairs at nodes; caudices well-developed; basal leaves compound, ultimate segments elliptic to oblanceolate; receptacle glabrous; Greenland.
var. glacialis
1. Stems distally brown-pilose; caudices short; basal leaves deeply parted or compound, ultimate segments oblanceolate to almost linear; receptacle brown-pilose; Alaska.
var. camissonis
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Crymodes Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Hecatonia
Sibling taxa
R. abortivus, R. acriformis, R. acris, R. adoneus, R. alismifolius, R. allegheniensis, R. allenii, R. ambigens, R. andersonii, R. aquatilis, R. arizonicus, R. arvensis, R. auricomus, R. austro-oreganus, R. bonariensis, R. bulbosus, R. californicus, R. canus, R. cardiophyllus, R. cooleyae, R. cymbalaria, R. eschscholtzii, R. fascicularis, R. fasciculatus, R. ficaria, R. flabellaris, R. flammula, R. gelidus, R. glaberrimus, R. gmelinii, R. gormanii, R. harveyi, R. hebecarpus, R. hederaceus, R. hispidus, R. hydrocharoides, R. hyperboreus, R. hystriculus, R. inamoenus, R. jovis, R. kamtschaticus, R. lapponicus, R. laxicaulis, R. lobbii, R. macauleyi, R. macounii, R. macranthus, R. marginatus, R. micranthus, R. muricatus, R. nivalis, R. occidentalis, R. oresterus, R. orthorhynchus, R. pacificus, R. pallasii, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, R. pusillus, R. pygmaeus, R. ranunculinus, R. recurvatus, R. repens, R. rhomboideus, R. sabinei, R. sardous, R. sceleratus, R. sulphureus, R. testiculatus, R. trilobus, R. triternatus, R. turneri, R. uncinatus
R. abortivus, R. acriformis, R. acris, R. adoneus, R. alismifolius, R. allegheniensis, R. allenii, R. ambigens, R. andersonii, R. aquatilis, R. arizonicus, R. arvensis, R. auricomus, R. austro-oreganus, R. bonariensis, R. bulbosus, R. californicus, R. canus, R. cardiophyllus, R. cooleyae, R. cymbalaria, R. eschscholtzii, R. fascicularis, R. fasciculatus, R. ficaria, R. flammula, R. gelidus, R. glaberrimus, R. glacialis, R. gmelinii, R. gormanii, R. harveyi, R. hebecarpus, R. hederaceus, R. hispidus, R. hydrocharoides, R. hyperboreus, R. hystriculus, R. inamoenus, R. jovis, R. kamtschaticus, R. lapponicus, R. laxicaulis, R. lobbii, R. macauleyi, R. macounii, R. macranthus, R. marginatus, R. micranthus, R. muricatus, R. nivalis, R. occidentalis, R. oresterus, R. orthorhynchus, R. pacificus, R. pallasii, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, R. pusillus, R. pygmaeus, R. ranunculinus, R. recurvatus, R. repens, R. rhomboideus, R. sabinei, R. sardous, R. sceleratus, R. sulphureus, R. testiculatus, R. trilobus, R. triternatus, R. turneri, R. uncinatus
Subordinate taxa
R. glacialis var. camissonis, R. glacialis var. glacialis
Synonyms Beckwithia glacialis R. delphinifolius
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 553. (1753) Rafinesque: Amer. Monthly Mag. & Crit. Rev. 2: 344. (1818)
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