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Pallas' buttercup, renoncule de Pallas

blister buttercup, celery-leaf buttercup, celery-leaf crowfoot, cursed buttercup, cursed crowfoot, cursed crowsfoot, renoncule scélérate

Stems

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

erect, glabrous, rooting at base, only very rarely rooting at proximal nodes.

Leaves

basal and cauline, basal and proximal cauline leaf blades reniform to semicircular in outline, 3-lobed or -parted, 1-5 × 1.6-6.8 cm, base truncate to cordate, segments usually again lobed or parted, sometimes undivided, margins crenate or crenate-lobulate, apex rounded or occasionally 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.

receptacle pubescent or glabrous;

sepals 3-5, reflexed from or near base, 2-5 × 1-3 mm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute;

petals 3-5, 2-5 × 1-3 mm;

nectary on petal surface, scale poorly developed and forming crescent-shaped or circular ridge surrounding but not covering nectary;

style absent.

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.

ellipsoid or cylindric heads, 5-13 × 3-7 mm;

achenes 1-1.2 × 0.8-1 mm, glabrous;

beak deltate, usually straight, 0.1 mm.

Tuberous

roots absent.

2n

= 32.

Ranunculus pallasii

Ranunculus sceleratus

Phenology Flowering summer (Jul–Aug).
Habitat Shallow water of bogs and pools in muskeg and tundra
Elevation 0-700 m (0-2300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; MB; NF; NT; ON; QC; YT; Eurasia
from FNA
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; 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; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NF; NS; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Ranunculus sceleratus varieties were used by the Thompson Indians as a poison for their arrow points (D. E. Moerman 1986).

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

Key
1. Faces of achene with fine transverse wrinkles; leaf blades lobed or parted, segments undivided or lobed, margins crenate.
var. sceleratus
1. Faces of achene smooth; leaf blades always parted (often deeply so), segments lobed or parted, margins deeply crenate or lobulate.
var. multifidus
Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Pallasiantha Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Hecatonia
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. 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. 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. sulphureus, R. testiculatus, R. trilobus, R. triternatus, R. turneri, R. uncinatus
Subordinate taxa
R. sceleratus var. multifidus, R. sceleratus var. sceleratus
Synonyms Hecatonia scelerata
Name authority Schlechtendal: Animadv. Bot. Ranunc. Cand. 1: 15. (1819) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 551. (1753)
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