Ranunculus rhomboideus |
Ranunculus occidentalis |
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Labrador buttercup, prairie buttercup, prairie crowfoot |
western buttercup |
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Roots | slender, 0.8-1.8 mm thick. |
never tuberous. |
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Stems | erect, 5-22 cm, pilose or occasionally glabrous, each with 3-12 flowers. |
erect to reclining, not rooting nodally, hirsute or sometimes pilose or glabrous, base not bulbous. |
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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 broadly ovate to semicircular or reniform in outline, 3-parted or -foliolate, 1.5-5.3 × 2.2-8 cm, segments usually again 1(-2)×-lobed, ultimate segments oblong or elliptic to lanceolate or oblanceolate, margins dentate (sometimes dentate-lobulate or entire), apex acute to rounded-obtuse. |
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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 reflexed 2-3 mm above base, 4-7(-9) × 2-4 mm, hirsute; petals 5-14, yellow, 5-13 × 1.5-8 mm. |
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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, 3-7 × 5-9 mm; achenes 2.6-3.6(-4.8) × 1.8-3(-3.2) mm, glabrous, rarely hispid, margin forming narrow rib 0.1-0.2 mm wide; beak persistent, lanceolate to lance-subulate, straight or curved, 0.4-2.2 mm. |
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2n | = 16. |
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Ranunculus rhomboideus |
Ranunculus occidentalis |
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Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr–Jun). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Prairies, or occasionally open woods or thickets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0-900 m (0-3000 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
IA; IL; MI; MN; MT; ND; NE; SD; WI; AB; BC; MB; NT; ON; SK
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AK; CA; NV; OR; WA; AB; BC; YT
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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.) |
Varieties 7 The seeds of Ranunculus occidentalis were eaten by some Californian Indians. D. E. Moerman (1986) identified this taxon as an Aleut poison: juice of the flowers could be slipped into food to poison the person who ate it. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Ranunculus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Goldie: Edinburgh J. Sci. 6: 329. (1822) | Nuttall: in J. Torrey & A. Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 22. (1838) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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