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glacier buttercup

Mississippi buttercup

Roots

not thickened basally, glabrous.

Stems

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

erect or ascending, often rooting at proximal nodes, glabrous or sparsely pilose.

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.

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.

Inflorescences

bracts linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate.

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 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.

Heads of achenes

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.

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.

Ranunculus glacialis

Ranunculus laxicaulis

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
from FNA
AK; Eurasia
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; GA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

(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. Flammula
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. flabellaris, 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. 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. mississippiensis, R. subcordatus, R. texensis
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 553. (1753) Darby: Man. Bot. 2: 4. (1841)
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