Ranunculus testiculatus |
Ranunculus sulphureus |
|
---|---|---|
bur buttercup, hornseed buttercup, tubercled crowfoot |
renoncule soufrée, sulphur buttercup |
|
Roots | slender, 0.4-1 mm thick. |
|
Stems | erect or ascending, not rooting nodally, villous, not bulbous-based. |
erect from short caudices, 3-20 cm, sparsely pilose to glabrous, each with 1-3 flowers. |
Basal leaves | blades broadly spatulate in outline, 1-2x-dissected, 0.9-3.8 × 0.5-1.5 cm, segments linear, margins entire, apex obtuse to acuminate. |
persistent, blades transversely elliptic to orbiculate, 1-3 × 1-3 cm, base obtuse to nearly truncate, margins crenate or else blades shallowly 3-lobed with crenate lateral lobes, apex rounded or rounded-apiculate. |
Flowers | receptacle glabrous; sepals spreading, 3-6 × 1-2 mm, villous; petals yellow, 3-5 × 1-3 mm. |
pedicels sparsely brown-pilose; receptacle brown-pilose; sepals 6-8 × 3-6 mm, abaxially densely brown-hispid; petals 5(-6), 8-12 × 6-10 mm; nectary scale glabrous. |
Heads of achenes | cylindric, 9-16(-27) × 8-10 mm; achenes 1.6-2 × 1.8-2 mm, tomentose; beak persistent, lanceolate, 3.5-4.5 mm. |
ovoid-cylindric or ovoid, 6-7(-9) × 5-6 mm; achenes 1.8-2.2 × 1.4-1.8 mm, glabrous or sparsely brown-hispid; beak slender, straight or curved, 0.8-1.4 mm. |
Tuberous | roots absent. |
|
2n | = 42, ca. 80, ca. 84, 96, ca. 98. |
|
Ranunculus testiculatus |
Ranunculus sulphureus |
|
Phenology | Flowering spring (Apr–May). | Flowering late spring–summer (Jun–Sep). |
Habitat | Disturbed areas, especially in grassland | Meadows and seepy slopes, often around late snowbeds, bogs, and streamsides |
Elevation | 400-2500 m (1300-8200 ft) | 0-1100 m (0-3600 ft) |
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; IA; ID; KS; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OH; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; BC; SK; native to Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
|
AK; BC; NF; NT; QC; YT; Greenland; Eurasia |
Discussion | In North America, Ranunculus testiculatus seems to be expanding its range rapidly in arid and semiarid areas. A second species of this subgenus, R. falcatus Linnaeus [Ceratocephala falcata (Linnaeus) Persoon], has been reported from North America, but all reports seem to be based on misidentified material of R. testiculatus. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Material of Ranunculus sulphureus from the Aleutian Islands has 3-lobed leaves similar to those of R. nivalis. These plants are sometimes separated as R. sulphureus var. intercedens. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 3. | FNA vol. 3. |
Parent taxa | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ceratocephala | Ranunculaceae > Ranunculus > subg. Ranunculus > sect. Epirotes |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Ceratocephalus orthoceras, Ceratocephalus testiculatus | R. sulphureus var. intercedens |
Name authority | Crantz: Stirp. Austr. Fasc. 2: 97. (1763) | Solander: in C. J. Phipps, Voy. North Pole, 202. (1774) |
Web links |