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Labrador buttercup, prairie buttercup, prairie crowfoot

arctic buttercup, far-northern buttercup, high northern buttercup, renoncule hyperboréale

Roots

slender, 0.8-1.8 mm thick.

Stems

erect, 5-22 cm, pilose or occasionally glabrous, each with 3-12 flowers.

prostrate, glabrous, rooting nodally.

Leaves

basal leaves absent, cauline leaf blades reniform to broadly flabellate, deeply 3-lobed or 3-parted, 0.3-1.2 × 0.5-2.1 cm, base obtuse to cordate, lobes undivided or lateral lobes cleft, terminal segment entire or distally crenulate, apex rounded.

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.

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 3-4, spreading or reflexed from base, 2-4 × 1-3 mm, glabrous;

petals 3-4, 2-4 × 1-3 mm;

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

style 0.1-0.2 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.

globose or short-ovoid, 3-5 × 2-5 mm;

achenes 1-1.4 × 0.8-1.2 mm, glabrous;

beak linear, curved, 0.1-0.4 mm.

2n

= 16.

= 32.

Ranunculus rhomboideus

Ranunculus hyperboreus

Phenology Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug).
Habitat Prairies, or occasionally open woods or thickets Floating in shallow water or stranded on exposed mud at margins of streams and ponds and open wet soil and marshes, in tundra or boreal or subalpine forest
Elevation 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) 0-3400 m (0-11200 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; SD; WI; AB; BC; MB; NT; ON; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CO; ID; MT; NV; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; NF; NT; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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.)

Specimens of Ranunculus hyperboreus from the central and southern Rocky Mountains have the leaves always cordate and the fruiting heads always 4-5 mm; they have been separated as R. hyperboreus subsp. intertextus. Although Arctic specimens are more variable, they often have shallowly cordate leaf bases and equally large heads of achenes, so segregation of the subspecies seems inappropriate.

(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. 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. pallasii, R. parviflorus, R. pedatifidus, R. pensylvanicus, R. platensis, R. populago, R. pusillus, R. pygmaeus, R. ranunculinus, R. recurvatus, R. repens, 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. 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. hyperboreus subsp. arnellii, R. hyperboreus subsp. intertextus, R. hyperboreus var. samojedorum, R. hyperboreus var. tricrenatus, R. hyperboreus var. turquetilianus, R. natans var. intertextus
Name authority Goldie: Edinburgh J. Sci. 6: 329. (1822) Rottbøll: Skr. Kiøbenhavnske Selsk. Laerd. Elsk. 10: 458. (1770)
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