Ranunculus rhomboideus |
Ranunculus macauleyi |
|
---|---|---|
Labrador buttercup, prairie buttercup, prairie crowfoot |
Rocky Mountain buttercup |
|
Roots | slender, 0.8-1.8 mm thick. |
slender, 0.7-1.3 mm thick. |
Stems | erect, 5-22 cm, pilose or occasionally glabrous, each with 3-12 flowers. |
erect from short caudices, 6-15 cm, glabrous or sometimes pilose, each with 1-2 flowers. |
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. |
persistent, blades narrowly elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate, undivided, 1.5-4.5 × 0.5-1.1(-2.8) cm, base acute or long-attenuate, margins entire except for apex, apex truncate or rounded and 3(-5)-toothed. |
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. |
pedicels glabrous or brown-pilose; receptacle glabrous; sepals 6-12 × 2.5-8 mm, abaxially densely brown-pilose; petals 5(-8), 10-19 × 6-17 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
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. |
ovoid or cylindric, 5-10 × 4-5.5 mm; achenes 1.5-1.7 × 1.2-1.3 mm, glabrous; beak slender, straight or recurved, 0.5-1.5(-2.2) mm. |
2n | = 16. |
|
Ranunculus rhomboideus |
Ranunculus macauleyi |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Aug). |
Habitat | Prairies, or occasionally open woods or thickets | Sunny open soil of alpine meadows and slopes |
Elevation | 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) | 3300-3700 m (10800-12100 ft) |
Distribution |
IA; IL; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; SD; WI; AB; BC; MB; NT; ON; SK
|
CO; NM
|
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.) |
The type specimen of Ranunculus macauleyi var. brandegeei L. D. Benson, from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, differs from typical R. macauleyi in its tall stem, broad, crenate-laciniate leaves, and sepals with pale or transparent hairs. These characteristics are suggestive of R. inamoenus, and the plant may be of hybrid ancestry. (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. Epirotes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Goldie: Edinburgh J. Sci. 6: 329. (1822) | A. Gray: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 15: 45. (1879) |
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