200 RANUNCULACEAE 



and divided, ultimate lobes sharply acute, appressed-pubescent with stiff hairs ; sepals yellowish 

 green, spreading, 4-7 mm. long, densely pubescent dorsally ; petals 5, bright golden yellow, 8-14 

 mm. long; achenes 25-40, irregularly obovate, 2-2.5 mm. long, margin slightly keeled, beak very 

 short, deltoid, bent or curved sharply dorsally, not recurved; receptacle little elongated in fruit. 



Pastures, meadows, and roadsides, Transition Zones; occasional up to 1,000 meters in western Washington, 

 and locally at Salem, Brooks, and Union, Oregon; also in Canada and the Northern and Middle States. 

 Naturalized from Europe. May-July. 



2. Ranunculus repens L. Creeping Buttercup or Crowfoot. Fig. 1823. 



Ranunculus repens L. Sp. PI. 554. 1753. 



Perennial, stems rooting at the nodes, 1-5 dm. long. Basal and most cauline leaves 3-divided 

 or -pinnate, deltoid-cordate, 1 . 5^4 cm. long by 2-5 cm. broad, leaflets cuneate, parted and lobed, 

 usually pubescent ; sepals green, spreading, 5-8 mm. long ; petals 5, bright golden yellow, 7-13 

 mm. long; achenes 20-25, discoid-obovate, 2.5-3 mm. long, smooth and glabrous, the body 

 obovate, the keel apparent on the margin, beak 1 mm. long, stout and thick, hooked at the tip ; 

 receptacle short, very slightly enlarged in fruit. 



Meadows, Transition Zone; British Columbia, western Washington, and Oregon to Monterey and Fresno 

 Counties, California; also in the Rocky Mountains and Eastern North America. Native of Eurasia. May-July. 

 Variable in pubescence and amount of adventitious rooting. 



Ranunculus repens var. erectus DC. Prod. 1: 38. 1824. Stems reclining to suberect, 2-4 dm. long, 

 rather stout, 2-5 mm. in diameter, somewhat succulent, with roots at the lower nodes, but usually without 

 stolon-like stems or branches, pubescence sparse and spreading; leaves larger than in the typical species, some- 

 times of 5 leaflets, not markedly pubescent; petals 5, golden yellow, 13-16 mm. long. Growing often in shallow 

 water of meadow or marsh land; naturalized in the Puget Sound region and southward at scattered stations 

 mostly near the coast to Curry County, Oregon; Santa Cruz, California; occasional in Quebec and Newfoundland. 



Ranunculus repens var. pleniflorus Fernald, Rhodora 19: 138. 1917. Stems suberect, or one or two of 

 them stoloniferous, 1.5 or commonly 4—6 dm. long, 1.3 or commonly 2—6.5 mm. in diameter, fistulous and 

 rather succulent; the flowering stems usually not rooting, pubescence usually sparse and spreading; leaves 

 usually larger than in the typical species, the leaflets suborbicular and rounded (instead of cuneate or sub- 

 truncate) at the bases, crenate; petals (mostly staminodia) numerous, forming a "double" flower. Wet ground, 

 an occasional escape from gardens in New York, New England, and Maryland; Liberty, Kittitas County, 

 Washington. 



3. Ranunculus bulbosus L. Bulbous Buttercup. Fig. 1824. 



Ranunculus bulbosus L. Sp. PI. 554. 1753. 



Pubescent perennial, stems erect, 3-7 dm. long, stout, pubescent or glabrous. Basal leaves 

 ovate in outline, pinnate, the leaflets deeply parted and lobed, pubescent; sepals yellowish green, 

 reflexed, 7-10 mm. long, pubescent dorsally, the margin tinged with purple or lavender ; petals 

 5, bright golden yellow, 8-14 mm. long; achenes 12-30, discoid, 2.5-3 mm. in diameter, margin 

 keeled, beak short, 1 mm. long, deltoid, bent or curved sharply dorsally at the tip, slightly if at all 

 recurved; receptacle little elongated in fruit. 



Pastures, meadows, and roadsides, Transition Zone; Salem, Oregon; also in the eastern United States. 

 Naturalized from Europe. May-July. 



4. Ranunculus canus Benth. Sacramento Valley Buttercup. Fig. 1825. 



Ranunculus canus Benth. PI. Hartw. 294. 1848. 



Ranunculus occidentalis var. canus A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 8: 374. 1872. 



Ranunculus calif ornicus var. canus Brewer & Wats. Bot. Calif. 1 : 8. 1876. 



Ranunculus canus var. Blankinshipii Robinson in Gray, Syn. Fl. N. Amer. I 1 : 35. 1895. 



Perennial, stems erect, 4-9 dm. long, 3-7 mm. thick, fistulous, pubescent or glabrous. Basal 

 leaves simple or of three pinnate leaflets, 5-7 cm. long by 6-10 cm. broad, leaflets with many 

 lobes, appressed-pubescent; sepals yellowish, reflexed, 9-12 mm. long, pubescent dorsally; petals 

 5-10, bright golden yellow, claw narrow, 4—5 mm. long, scale of the nectar pit conspicuous, blade 

 obovate, 11-14 mm. long by 5-7 mm. broad; achenes 12-20, discoid, 4-5 mm. in diameter, 0.5 

 mm. thick, smooth, glabrous or rarely hairy, beak stout, deltoid with a short apical hook, 1 mm. 

 long; receptacle slightly enlarged in fruit, slender, glabrous. 



Heavy soil, Upper and Lower Sonoran Zones; Inner North Coast Ranges of California from Tehama 



County to Yolo County, Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, and Sierra Nevada foothills from Butte County 

 to Tuolumne County, California. Type locality: northwest of Oroville, California. Feb.— April. 



Ranunculus canus var. laetus (Greene) L. Benson, Bull. Torrey Club 68: 170. 1941. (Ranunculus 

 californicus var. laetus Greene, Fl. Fran. 299. 1892. Ranunculus californicus var. canescens Greene, Fl. Fran. 

 299. 1892.) Leaves compound, dissected into segments 5-8 mm. broad, usually densely pubescent with soft 

 hairs. A variety of north slopes of California foothills where soil is especially heavy, upper edge of the Lower 

 Sonoran Zone; Sutter County to Contra Costa County, also lower San Joaquin Valley. Type locality: Suisun, 

 California. 



Ranunculus canus var. ludovicianus (Greene) L. Benson, Bull. Torrey Club 68: 171. 1941. (Ranunculus 

 ludovicianus Greene, Bull. Calif. Acad. 2: 58. 1886.) Stems 2.5-4 dm. long, thickly pilose-hispid; petals 10-23, 

 half as broad as long; achenes obovate-cuneate or cuneate, 3.5 or commonly 4-5 mm. long, the beak 0.5-1 mm. 

 long, erect, deltoid, not recurved. Usually in moist, open ground, Arid Transition or Upper Sonoran Zone; 

 Temblor, Greenhorn, Tehachapi, San Gabriel, and San Bernardino Mountains of south-central and southern 

 California. Type locality: mountains of San Luis Obispo County or Tehachapi, California. 



5. Ranunculus occidentalis Nutt. Western Buttercup. Fig. 1826. 



Ranunculus occidentalis Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 22. 1838. 



Ranunculus tenuipes Heller, Muhlenbergia 1: 50. 1904. 



Ranunculus occidentalis var. laevicaulis Suksdorf, W. Amer. Sci. 15: 58. 1906. 



Perennial, stems erect, 2-7 dm. long, pubescent or glabrous. Basal leaves fan-shaped or 

 semicircular, 1.5-3.5 cm. long by 2-4.5 cm. broad, 3-parted or rarely -divided, lobes cuneate, 



