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Labrador buttercup, prairie buttercup, prairie crowfoot

large buttercup, showy buttercup, smallflower buttercup

Roots

slender, 0.8-1.8 mm thick.

tuberous.

Stems

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

erect or decumbent, never rooting nodally, hispid, base not bulbous.

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.

blades ovate in outline, 3-5-foliolate, 3.8-10 × 2.7-9 cm, leaflets 1x-lobed, ultimate segments narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, margins entire or with few teeth, apex broadly acute to rounded-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 hispid;

sepals spreading or weakly reflexed ca. 1 mm above base, 7-10 × 3-5 mm, hispid;

petals 10-22, yellow, 12-22 × 4-9 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 to cylindric, 8-14 × 8-10 mm;

achenes 2.2-4.2 × 2.8-3.4 mm, glabrous, margin forming narrow rib 0.4-0.6 mm wide;

beak usually persistent, filiform from deltate base, straight, 2-4 mm.

2n

= 16.

= 32.

Ranunculus rhomboideus

Ranunculus macranthus

Phenology Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). Flowering late winter–spring (Mar–May).
Habitat Prairies, or occasionally open woods or thickets Riverbanks and wet meadows
Elevation 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) 0-400 m (0-1300 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
TX
[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.)

Source FNA vol. 3. FNA vol. 3.
Parent taxa Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Ranunculus
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. hyperboreus, R. hystriculus, R. inamoenus, R. jovis, R. kamtschaticus, R. lapponicus, R. laxicaulis, R. lobbii, R. macauleyi, R. macounii, 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. fascicularis var. cuneiformis
Name authority Goldie: Edinburgh J. Sci. 6: 329. (1822) Scheele: Linnaea 21: 585. (1848)
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