Ranunculus occidentalis |
Ranunculus occidentalis var. hexasepalus |
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western buttercup |
haida buttercup, western buttercup |
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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. |
erect or spreading, 2-6 mm thick, hirsute or strigose, at least distally. |
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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. |
3-parted, ultimate segments elliptic or narrowly elliptic, margins dentate. |
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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. |
sepals 5-6, 4-5 mm; petals 8-14, 9-13 × 3-7 mm. |
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Achenes | 2.6-3 × 2.2-3 mm, glabrous; beak lanceolate, curved, at least distally, 1.2-1.6 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. |
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Ranunculus occidentalis |
Ranunculus occidentalis var. hexasepalus |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Open areas near coast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0 m (0 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; CA; NV; OR; WA; AB; BC; YT
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BC |
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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 occidentalis var. hexasepalus is endemic to the Queen Charlotte Islands. (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. Ranunculus > Ranunculus occidentalis | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | R. hexasepalus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Nuttall: in J. Torrey & A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 22. (1838) | L. D. Benson: Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 68: 167. (1941) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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