Ranunculus occidentalis |
Ranunculus pensylvanicus |
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western buttercup |
bristly buttercup, bristly crowfoot, Pennsylvania buttercup, renoncule de pennsylvanie |
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Roots | never tuberous. |
never tuberous. |
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Stems | erect to reclining, not rooting nodally, hirsute or sometimes pilose or glabrous, base not bulbous. |
erect, never rooting nodally, hispid, base not bulbous. |
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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. |
broadly cordate in outline, 3-foliolate, 1.6-7 × 3-9 cm, leaflets cleft, usually deeply so, ultimate segments narrowly elliptic, margins toothed, apex acute. |
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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 hirsute; sepals reflexed ca. 1 mm above base, 3-5 × 1.5-2 mm, ± hispid; petals 5, yellow, 2-4 × 1-2.5 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. |
cylindric, 9-12 × 5-7 mm; achenes 1.8-2.8 × 1.6-2 mm, glabrous, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide; beak persistent, broadly lanceolate or nearly deltate, straight or nearly so, 0.6-0.8 mm. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Ranunculus occidentalis |
Ranunculus pensylvanicus |
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Phenology | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Stream banks, bogs, moist clearings, depressions in woodlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0-1700 m (0-5600 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; CA; NV; OR; WA; AB; BC; YT
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AK; AZ; CO; CT; DC; DE; IA; ID; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; PA; RI; SD; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK
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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.) |
Ojibwa tribes used Ranunculus pensylvanicus as a hunting medicine; the Potawatomi used it as an astringent for miscellaneous diseases (D. E. Moerman 1986). (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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Name authority | Nuttall: in J. Torrey & A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 22. (1838) | Linnaeus f.: Suppl. Pl., 272. (1782) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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