Ranunculus rhomboideus |
Ranunculus ficaria |
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Labrador buttercup, prairie buttercup, prairie crowfoot |
ficaire, fig buttercup, lesser celandine, pilewort, renoncule ficaire |
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Roots | slender, 0.8-1.8 mm thick. |
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Stems | erect, 5-22 cm, pilose or occasionally glabrous, each with 3-12 flowers. |
erect to decumbent, not rooting nodally, glabrous, not bulbous-based, spheric or ellipsoid bulbils sometimes formed in leaf axils. |
Basal leaves | persistent, blades ovate to rhombic, undivided or rarely innermost 3-parted, 1.1-5.3 × 0.9-3.6 cm, base obtuse, margins crenate with 5 crenae, apex rounded. |
simple and undivided, blades cordate to deltate or semicircular, 1.8-3.7 × 2-4 cm, base cordate, margins entire or crenate, apex rounded or obtuse. |
Flowers | pedicels pilose; receptacle pilose; sepals 4-6 × 1.5-3 mm, abaxially pilose, hairs colorless; petals 5, 6-8 × 2-4 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
receptacle glabrous; sepals spreading, saccate at extreme base, 4-9 × 3-6 mm, glabrous; petals yellow, 10-15 × 3-7 mm. |
Heads of achenes | depressed-globose, 4-6 × 5-7 mm; achenes 1.8-2.2 × 1.2-1.8 mm, glabrous; beak slender, curved, 0.2-0.3 mm. |
hemispheric, 4-5 × 6-8 mm; achenes 2.6-2.8 × 1.8-2 mm, pubescent; beak absent. |
Tuberous | roots present. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Ranunculus rhomboideus |
Ranunculus ficaria |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). | Flowering spring (Apr–May). |
Habitat | Prairies, or occasionally open woods or thickets | Shaded stream banks and moist disturbed areas |
Elevation | 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) |
Distribution |
IA; IL; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; SD; WI; AB; BC; MB; NT; ON; SK
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CT; DC; IL; KY; MA; MD; MI; MO; NJ; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; TN; VA; WA; WV; BC; NF; ON; QC; native to Europe [Introduced in North America]
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Discussion | In addition to the range given above, L. D. Benson (1948) cited nineteenth-century specimens from Quebec, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. No modern specimens have been seen from those areas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
In North America, Ranunculus ficaria seems to be expanding its range rapidly in areas with cool mesic climates. The species is extremely variable (especially in leaf size and stem posture), and many attempts have been made to divide it into varieties or subspecies (see P. D. Sell 1994). The different forms, however, intergrade extensively and the varieties are often impossible to distinguish. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ficaria |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | R. ficaria subsp. bulbifer, R. ficaria subsp. calthifolius, R. ficaria var. bulbifera | |
Name authority | Goldie: Edinburgh J. Sci. 6: 329. (1822) | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 550. (1753) |
Web links |
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