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Pallas' buttercup, renoncule de Pallas

kidney-leaf buttercup, kidney-leaf crowfoot, little-leaf buttercup, small-flower buttercup, small-flower crowfoot

Roots

filiform, sometimes enlarged basally, 0.5-1.5 mm thick.

Stems

creeping or floating, rooting nodally, glabrous, not bulbous-based.

erect or nearly erect, 10-60 cm, glabrous, each with 3-50 flowers.

Basal leaves

persistent, blades reniform or orbiculate, undivided or sometimes innermost 3-parted or -foliate, 1.4-4.2 × 2-5.2 cm, base shallowly to deeply cordate, margins crenulate to crenate-lobulate, apex rounded to rounded-obtuse.

Basal leaf blades

linear to obovate, undivided or 3-lobed, 1.5-3.6 × 0.3-2 cm, lobes lanceolate or elliptic, margins entire, apex rounded to acuminate.

Flowers

receptacle glabrous;

sepals spreading, 6-10 × 4-7 mm, glabrous;

petals 7-11, white or pink, 8-13 × 3-6 mm.

pedicels glabrous or nearly so;

receptacle sparsely to very sparsely pilose;

sepals 2.5-4 × 1-2 mm, abaxially glabrous;

petals 5, 1.5-3.5 × 1-2 mm;

nectary scale glabrous.

Heads of achenes

globose or hemispheric, 5-12 × 9-15 mm;

achenes 4.2-5.2 × 2.4-3.2 mm, glabrous;

beak persistent, lanceolate, straight or curved, 1-1.2 mm.

ovoid, 3-6 × 2.5-5 mm;

achenes 1.4-1.6 × 1-1.5 mm, glabrous;

beak subulate, curved, 0.1-0.2 mm.

Tuberous

roots absent.

2n

= 32.

= 16.

Ranunculus pallasii

Ranunculus abortivus

Phenology Flowering summer (Jul–Aug). Flowering late winter–summer (Mar–Jul).
Habitat Shallow water of bogs and pools in muskeg and tundra Woods, meadows, fallow fields, and clearings
Elevation 0-700 m (0-2300 ft) 0-3100 m (0-10200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NF; NT; ON; QC; YT; Eurasia
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT; SPM
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[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Three varieties of Ranunculus abortivus are sometimes recognized. Plants from New England and the northern Appalachians often have thick stems and orbiculate leaves with narrow, deep basal sinuses; this form has been called R. abortivus var. eucyclus. Plants from southeastern Virginia may have the upper bracts merely lobed rather than deeply divided as is usual in R. sect. Epirotes; those have been called R. arbortivus var. indivisus.

Native American tribes have used Ranunculus abortivus medicinally for a variety of purposes (D. E. Moerman 1986).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Pallasiantha Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes
Sibling taxa
R. abortivus, R. acriformis, R. acris, R. adoneus, R. alismifolius, R. allegheniensis, R. allenii, R. ambigens, R. andersonii, R. aquatilis, R. arizonicus, R. arvensis, R. auricomus, R. austro-oreganus, R. bonariensis, R. bulbosus, R. californicus, R. canus, R. cardiophyllus, R. cooleyae, R. cymbalaria, R. eschscholtzii, R. fascicularis, R. fasciculatus, R. ficaria, R. flabellaris, R. flammula, R. gelidus, R. glaberrimus, R. glacialis, R. gmelinii, R. gormanii, R. harveyi, R. hebecarpus, R. hederaceus, R. hispidus, R. hydrocharoides, R. hyperboreus, R. hystriculus, R. inamoenus, R. jovis, R. kamtschaticus, R. lapponicus, R. laxicaulis, R. lobbii, R. macauleyi, R. macounii, R. macranthus, R. marginatus, R. micranthus, R. muricatus, R. nivalis, R. occidentalis, R. oresterus, R. orthorhynchus, R. pacificus, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, R. pusillus, R. pygmaeus, R. ranunculinus, R. recurvatus, R. repens, R. rhomboideus, R. sabinei, R. sardous, R. sceleratus, R. sulphureus, R. testiculatus, R. trilobus, R. triternatus, R. turneri, R. uncinatus
R. acriformis, R. acris, R. adoneus, R. alismifolius, R. allegheniensis, R. allenii, R. ambigens, R. andersonii, R. aquatilis, R. arizonicus, R. arvensis, R. auricomus, R. austro-oreganus, R. bonariensis, R. bulbosus, R. californicus, R. canus, R. cardiophyllus, R. cooleyae, R. cymbalaria, R. eschscholtzii, R. fascicularis, R. fasciculatus, R. ficaria, R. flabellaris, R. flammula, R. gelidus, R. glaberrimus, R. glacialis, R. gmelinii, R. gormanii, R. harveyi, R. hebecarpus, R. hederaceus, R. hispidus, R. hydrocharoides, R. hyperboreus, R. hystriculus, R. inamoenus, R. jovis, R. kamtschaticus, R. lapponicus, R. laxicaulis, R. lobbii, R. macauleyi, R. macounii, R. macranthus, R. marginatus, R. micranthus, R. muricatus, R. nivalis, R. occidentalis, R. oresterus, R. orthorhynchus, R. pacificus, R. pallasii, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, R. pusillus, R. pygmaeus, R. ranunculinus, R. recurvatus, R. repens, R. rhomboideus, R. sabinei, R. sardous, R. sceleratus, R. sulphureus, R. testiculatus, R. trilobus, R. triternatus, R. turneri, R. uncinatus
Synonyms R. abortivus subsp. acrolasius, R. abortivus var. acrolasius, R. abortivus var. eucyclus, R. abortivus var. indivisus
Name authority Schlechtendal: Animadv. Bot. Ranunc. Cand. 1: 15. (1819) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 551. (1753)
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