Ranunculus platensis |
Ranunculus sulphureus |
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prairie buttercup |
renoncule soufrée, sulphur buttercup |
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Roots | slender, 0.4-1 mm thick. |
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Stems | decumbent, sparsely pilose. |
erect from short caudices, 3-20 cm, sparsely pilose to glabrous, each with 1-3 flowers. |
Basal leaves | persistent, blades transversely elliptic to orbiculate, 1-3 × 1-3 cm, base obtuse to nearly truncate, margins crenate or else blades shallowly 3-lobed with crenate lateral lobes, apex rounded or rounded-apiculate. |
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Flowers | sessile; receptacle glabrous or pilose; sepals 3, spreading, 1-2 × 0.5-1 mm, hirsute; petals 3, 1-2 × 0.5-0.8 mm. |
pedicels sparsely brown-pilose; receptacle brown-pilose; sepals 6-8 × 3-6 mm, abaxially densely brown-hispid; petals 5(-6), 8-12 × 6-10 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
Heads of achenes | hemispheric, 2-2.5 × 3-3.5 mm; achenes 10-15 per head, 1.3-1.7 × 1-1.3 mm, faces and proximal margin finely papillate, each papilla crowned with hooked bristle, otherwise glabrous; beak semicircular to deltate, curved, 0.2-0.5 mm. |
ovoid-cylindric or ovoid, 6-7(-9) × 5-6 mm; achenes 1.8-2.2 × 1.4-1.8 mm, glabrous or sparsely brown-hispid; beak slender, straight or curved, 0.8-1.4 mm. |
Basal | and lower cauline leaf blades reniform, 3-parted, 0.8-1.7 × 1.2-2 cm, segment base cordate, margins dentate or lobulate, apex rounded-obtuse. |
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2n | = 42, ca. 80, ca. 84, 96, ca. 98. |
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Ranunculus platensis |
Ranunculus sulphureus |
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Phenology | Flowering winter–spring (Feb–Apr). | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Sep). |
Habitat | Weed in disturbed areas, usually near coast | Meadows and seepy slopes, often around late snowbeds, bogs, and streamsides |
Elevation | 0-200 m (0-700 ft) | 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; TX; native to South America (s Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina) [Introduced in North America]
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AK; BC; NF; NT; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
Discussion | Material of Ranunculus sulphureus from the Aleutian Islands has 3-lobed leaves similar to those of R. nivalis. These plants are sometimes separated as R. sulphureus var. intercedens. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. sulphureus var. intercedens | |
Name authority | A. Sprengel: in K. Sprengel, Syst. Veg. 5: 586. (1828) | Solander: in C. J. Phipps, Voy. North Pole, 202. (1774) |
Web links |