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low buttercup, low spearwort, weak buttercup

ivy buttercup

Roots

not thickened basally, glabrous.

Stems

erect or ascending, rooting at most proximal nodes, glabrous.

glabrous.

Leaves

blade reniform, 0.4-1 × 0.6-1.7 cm, margins shallowly crenate-lobulate, segments rounded.

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.

receptacle glabrous;

sepals recurved, 1.5-2 × 1-1.5 mm, glabrous;

petals 5, 2-4 × 1-1.5 mm;

style 0.1 mm.

Fruiting pedicels

recurved.

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.

globose or depressed-globose, 3-4 × 3-4 mm;

achenes 1.2-1.6 × 1-1.2 mm, glabrous;

beak deciduous, sometimes leaving stub to 0.1 mm.

2n

= 16 (Europe).

Ranunculus pusillus

Ranunculus hederaceus

Phenology Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). Flowering spring–summer (Apr–Aug).
Habitat Ditches, ponds, and swamps Edges of lakes and ponds on the coastal plain
Elevation 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) 0-150 m (0-500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
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
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MD; NC; PA; SC; VA; Nfld; Europe
[BONAP county map]
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. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Flammula Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Batrachium
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. pallasii, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, 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. 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. oblongifolius, R. pusillus var. angustifolius, R. tener
Name authority Poiret: in J. Lamarck et al., Encycl. 6: 99. (1804) Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 556. (1753)
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