Ranunculus occidentalis
Ranunculus cardiophyllus
western buttercup
heart-leaf buttercup, renoncule pédatifide
never tuberous.
cylindric, 1.3-2 mm thick.
erect to reclining, not rooting nodally, hirsute or sometimes pilose or glabrous, base not bulbous.
erect, 11-53 cm, pilose or glabrous, each with 1-5 flowers.
persistent, blades ovate or elliptic, undivided or innermost 3-5-parted, 2.2-6.9 × 1.8-4.5 cm, base cordate to broadly obtuse, margins crenate with more than 5 crenae, apex rounded to broadly acute.
broadly ovate to semicircular or reniform in outline, 3-parted or -foliolate, 1.5-5.3 × 2.2-8 cm, segments usually again 1(-2)×-lobed, ultimate segments oblong or elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate, margins dentate (sometimes dentate-lobulate or entire), apex acute to rounded-obtuse.
receptacle glabrous;
sepals reflexed 2-3 mm above base, 4-7(-9) × 2-4 mm, hirsute;
petals 5-14, yellow, 5-13 × 1.5-8 mm.
pedicels pilose;
receptacle canescent;
sepals 5-8 × 3-7 mm, abaxially pilose, hairs colorless;
petals (0-)5-10, 6-13 × 4-13 mm;
nectary scale ciliate or sometimes glabrous.
hemispheric, 3-7 × 5-9 mm;
achenes 2.6-3.6(-4.8) × 1.8-3(-3.2) mm, glabrous, rarely hispid, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide;
beak persistent, lanceolate to lance-subulate, straight or curved, 0.4-2.2 mm.
ovoid or cylindric, 5-16 × 5-9 mm;
achenes 1.8-2.2 × 1.5-2 mm, finely canescent;
beak subulate, curved or straight, 0.6-1.2 mm.
= 32.
Ranunculus occidentalis
Ranunculus cardiophyllus
Varieties 7
The seeds of Ranunculus occidentalis were eaten by some Californian Indians. D. E. Moerman (1986) identified this taxon as an Aleut poison: juice of the flowers could be slipped into food to poison the person who ate it.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Ranunculus cardiophyllus is quite variable. Through most of its range, leaves always have rounded marginal crenae and cordate or truncate bases, stems are often densely pilose (but may be sparsely pilose or glabrous), and achene beaks are curved. In plants from Arizona and New Mexico, however, leaves may have obtuse marginal crenae or broadly obtuse bases, stems are never densely pilose, and achene beaks are sometimes straight. Forms showing some or all of these charactersistics are often separated as R. cardiophyllus var. subsagittatus. The characteristics are poorly correlated, however, and taxonomic recognition is not warranted.
Most specimens of Ranunculus cardiophyllus have all of the basal leaves unlobed, but plants with the innermost basal leaf 3-5-lobed are common. A few specimens, mostly from the northern part of its range, have all of the basal leaves 5-parted or -divided. Those plants approach R. pedatifidus in their morphology, and R. cardiophyllus has sometimes been considered a variety of that species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Petals 8-14; Queen Charlotte Islands, B.C. | var. hexasepalus |
1. Petals 5-6; widespread. | → 2 |
2. Stem 4-8 mm thick; beak of achene 1.8-2.4 mm, curved; coastal Alaska. | var. nelsonii |
2. Stem 1-3(-4) mm thick; beak of achene either 0.4-1.4 mm and curved, or 1.2-2.2 mm and straight; widespread. | → 3 |
3. Beak of achene straight, 1.2-2.2 mm; Oregon and northernmost California. | → 4 |
3. Beak of achene curved, 0.4-1.4 mm; widespread. | → 5 |
4. Ultimate segments of leaves lanceolate to oblanceolate. | var. dissectus |
4. Ultimate segments of leaves elliptic. | var. howellii |
5. Petals 1.5-2.5 mm wide; beak of achene 0.4-1.2 mm; stems ± reclining; Sierra Nevada, above 1000m. | var. ultramontanus |
5. Petals 3-8 mm wide; beak of achene (0.6-)1-1.4 mm; stems erect or reclining; widespread. | → 6 |
6. Stems pilose or glabrous; Alaska to c British Columbia and Alberta. | var. brevistylis |
6. Stems hirsute, sometimes glabrous; California to sw British Columbia. | var. occidentalis |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
