Ranunculus micranthus |
Ranunculus acris |
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rock buttercup, small-flower crowfoot |
acrid buttercup, bouton d'or, meadow buttercup, renoncule âcre, tall buttercup, tall crowfoot |
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Roots | dimorphic, some filiform, 0.2-0.6 mm thick and some with tuberous bases 1-2 mm thick. |
never tuberous. |
Stems | erect, 11-40 cm, villous, each with 8-35 flowers. |
erect from short caudex or rhizome, never rooting nodally, hispid, strigose, or glabrous, base not bulbous. |
Basal leaves | persistent, blades ovate, orbiculate, or transversely elliptic, outer blades undivided, inner 3-parted or 3-foliolate, 1-3.3 × 1-3 cm, base truncate to broadly obtuse or sometimes weakly cordate, margins crenate, apex rounded-obtuse. |
blades pentagonal in outline, deeply 3-5-parted, 1.8-5.2 × 2.7-9.8 cm, segments 1-2x-lobed or -parted, ultimate segments narrowly elliptic or oblong to lanceolate, margins toothed or lobulate, apex acute to rounded. |
Flowers | pedicels glabrous or villous; receptacle glabrous; sepals 2-4 × 1-1.5 mm, abaxially glabrous or pubescent, hairs colorless; petals 5, 1.5-3.5 × 0.5-1.5 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
receptacle glabrous; sepals spreading, 4-6(-9) × 2-5 mm, hispid; petals 5, yellow, 8-11(-17) × 7-13 mm. |
Heads of achenes | globose to cylindric, 3-7 × 2-4 mm; achenes 1.1-1.5 × 1-1.3 mm, glabrous; beak subulate, straight or curved, 0.2-0.3 mm. |
globose, 5-7(-10) mm wide; achenes 2-3 × 1.8-2.4 mm, glabrous, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide; beak persistent, deltate, usually with tip short or long, straight or curved, subulate, 0.2-1 mm. |
2n | = 16. |
= 14. |
Ranunculus micranthus |
Ranunculus acris |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Mar–May). | Flowering spring–summer (May–Sep). |
Habitat | Woods, meadows, and clearings | Meadows, stream banks, roadsides, and old fields |
Elevation | 0-1000 m (0-3300 ft) | 0-2300 m (0-7500 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DC; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SD; TN; VA; WV
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AK; AL; AZ; CA; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; SPM; South America; Pacific Islands; Greenland; Eurasia; Australia [Largely introduced]
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Discussion | Ranunculus acris is variable in form and division of leaves, size of achene beak, and form of indument on the proximal stem. Most North American plants are weedy and have poorly differentiated caudices; these forms probably were introduced from Eurasia. Rhizomatous plants with large flowers (parenthetic measurements above) found in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and in Greenland are probably native. Aleutian populations of this form have been called R. acris var. frigidus Regel or R. grandis Honda var. austrokurilensis (Tatewaki) H. Hara. Both names were originally applied to Asiatic plants, and their applicability to American specimens is open to question. Some Native American tribes used Ranunculus acris as an analgesic, a dermatological or oral aid, an antidiarrheal, antihermorrhagic, and a sedative (D. E. Moerman 1986). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Ranunculus |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. micranthus var. cymbalistes, R. micranthus var. delitescens | R. acris var. latisectus |
Name authority | Nuttall: in J. Torrey and A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 18. (1838) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 554. (1753) |
Web links |
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