Ranunculus occidentalis |
Ranunculus gmelinii |
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western buttercup |
Gmelin's buttercup, Gmelin's water buttercup, lesser yellow water crowfoot, renoncule de Gmelin, small yellow water-buttercup, yellow water crowfoot |
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Roots | never tuberous. |
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Stems | erect to reclining, not rooting nodally, hirsute or sometimes pilose or glabrous, base not bulbous. |
prostrate or sometimes floating, glabrous or hirsute, rooting nodally. |
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Leaves | basal leaves absent, cauline leaf blades reniform to circular, 3-parted, 0.6-6.5 × 1.1-9 cm, base cordate, segments again 1-3x-lobed to -dissected, margins entire or crenate, apex rounded to filiform. |
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Basal leaf blades | 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. |
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Flowers | 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. |
receptacle sparsely hispid; sepals 4-5, spreading or reflexed from base, 2-5 × 2-4 mm, glabrous or sparsely pilose; petals 4-14, 3-7 × 2-5 mm; nectary scale variable, crescent-shaped, funnel-shaped, or flaplike; style 0.2-0.4 mm. |
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Heads of achenes | 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. |
globose or ovoid, 3-8 × 3-7 mm; achenes 1-1.6 × 1-1.2 mm, glabrous; beak narrowly lanceolate or filiform, 0.4-0.8 mm. |
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2n | = 16, 32, 64. |
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Ranunculus occidentalis |
Ranunculus gmelinii |
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Phenology | Flowering spring–summer (May–Sep). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Shallow water or drying mud, wet meadows, swamps, marshes, ponds, shores of rivers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0-2800 m (0-9200 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; CA; NV; OR; WA; AB; BC; YT
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AK; CO; IA; ID; IL; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; Eurasia
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Discussion | 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 gmelinii has been divided into varieties on the basis of indument and flower size. These characters are variable and poorly correlated with one another, however, and these varieties scarcely seem natural. (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. Ranunculus | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Hecatonia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | R. gmelinii subsp. purshii, R. gmelinii var. hookeri, R. gmelinii var. limosus, R. gmelinii var. prolificus, R. purshii | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall: in J. Torrey & A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 22. (1838) | de Candolle: Syst. Nat. 1: 303. (1817) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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