Ranunculus pusillus |
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low buttercup, low spearwort, weak buttercup |
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Roots | not thickened basally, glabrous. |
Stems | erect or ascending, rooting at most proximal nodes, glabrous. |
Proximal cauline leaf blades | ovate or lanceolate, 1.2-4.2 × 0.5-1.2 cm, base acute to truncate, margins entire or denticulate, apex acuminate to rounded. |
Inflorescences | bracts linear to lanceolate or oblanceolate. |
Flowers | receptacle glabrous; sepals 4-5, spreading or reflexed from base, 1.5-3 × 1-1.5 mm, glabrous or sparsely hirsute; petals 1-3, 1.5-2 × 0.5-1 mm; nectary scales glabrous. |
Heads of achenes | hemispheric to cylindric, 2-8 × 2-3 mm; achenes 1-1.2 × 0.6-0.8 mm, ± tuberculate, glabrous; beak absent or nearly so, to 0.1 mm. |
Ranunculus pusillus |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). |
Habitat | Ditches, ponds, and swamps |
Elevation | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; AR; CA; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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Discussion | In most specimens of Ranunculus pusillus, the heads of achenes are hemispheric to short-ovate and only 2-3 mm. Occasional plants with cylindric heads of achenes 4-6 mm from the Gulf Coast states have been called R. pusillus var. angustifolius. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Flammula |
Sibling taxa | |
Synonyms | R. oblongifolius, R. pusillus var. angustifolius, R. tener |
Name authority | Poiret: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 6: 99. (1804) |
Web links |