202 RANUNCULACEAE 



again lobed, appressed-pubescent ; sepals greenish yellow, reflexed, 3-4 mm. long, finely- 

 pubescent ; petals 5 or rarely 6-8, bright golden yellow, 8-12 mm. long ; achenes 8-20 in a 

 hemispherical cluster, discoid or obovate, strongly compressed, 2-3 mm. in diameter, beak about 

 half the length of the body, curving or recurving above; receptacle short, but slightly enlarged 

 in fruit. 



Vernally moist prairies, Humid Transition Zone; Pacific Slope from Alaska to the Umpqua River Valley, 

 Oregon, and in the Columbia River Gorge. Type locality : lower Columbia River in Oregon. April—June. This 

 species, R. canus, R. calif ornicus, and their varieties have an abundance of connecting forms. 



Ranunculus occidentalis var. Rattanii A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 21 : 373. 1886. Stems erect or sub- 

 erect, 3-5 dm. long, 1-2 mm. in diameter; radical leaves simple, typically 8-25 mm. long by 15-30 mm. broad, 

 3-parted, the parts oblong or usually narrowly cuneate, the ultimate lobes triangular, sharply acute; petals 5-9, 

 5-8 mm. or sometimes 10 mm. long by 2.5-3.5 mm. broad, about twice as long as broad; achene body obovate 

 or discoid, 2-3 mm. long by 1.8-2.8 mm. broad, appressed-hairy or usually glabrous, the beak about 1 mm. long, 

 curving dorsally or slightly recurved, prolonging the ventral margin of the body. Openly wooded hills and 

 prairies. Transition Zone; seaward Coast Ranges from Coos County and western Josephine County, Oregon, 

 to Mendocino County and western Lake County, California. Type locality: Klamath River, California. The 

 hispid achene is to be found in any of the southern forms of R. occidentalis as well as in R. calif ornicus and 

 R. canus. 



Ranunculus occidentalis var. Eisenii (Kell.) A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 373. 1886. Stems erect 

 or suberect, 3-7 dm. long, 2—5 mm. in diameter; radical leaves like the typical species or frequently larger or 

 pinnately compound; petals 5 or 6 or sometimes 8, 7-12 mm. long by 4-8 mm. broad, 1.1-2 times as long 

 as broad; achene body discoid or obovate-discoid, 2-3.5 mm. long by 1.9—3.3 mm. broad, rarely longer, 

 glabrous or sometimes hispid, the beak 0.5-1 mm. long, falcate, usually recurved a little, prolonging the ventral 

 margin of the achene body. Vernally moist ground in the California foothills and mountain valleys at 100-1,300 

 meters (or up to 2,200 meters in Kern County), beneath oaks (leaves simple) or in vernal meadows or rivulets 

 (leaves compound) ; from Trinity County south in the Inner Coast Ranges to Napa Countv and in the Sierra 

 Nevada foothills to the Tehachapi Mountains. Type locality: near Fresno, California. The form occurring 

 from southeastern Jackson County and southwestern Klamath County, Oregon, to Shasta County, California, is 

 intermediate between the varieties Eisenii and ultramontanus. 



Ranunculus occidentalis var. ultramontanus Greene, Pittonia 3: 13. 1896. {Ranunculus alceus Greene, 

 Erythea 3: 69. 1895.) Stems flexuous, reclining or sometimes erect, 3-6 dm. long, 1-2 mm. in diameter; 

 radical leaves thin, 2-5 cm. long by 2-6 cm. broad or sometimes larger, commonly simple and 3-parted, but 

 frequently compound with 3-5 leaflets, the larger divisions typically lanceolate, but sometimes cuneate and 

 again lobed, the ultimate lobes usually not triangular; petals 5 or sometimes 6, 2—8 mm. long by 1.5-3 mm. 

 broad, twice as long as broad; achene body elliptic, 2.5-3 mm. long by 1.5-2.2 mm. broad, glabrous, the beak 

 0.7-1.3 mm. long, falcate, sometimes recurved, produced from the apex of the achene. Mountain streams 

 and meadows. Transition and lower Canadian Zones; mountains of Siskiyou and Modoc Counties south in the 

 North Coast Ranges, and in the Sierra Nevada, largely on the eastern side, to Inyo County, California. Type 

 locality: Truckee River, California. 



Ranunculus occidentalis var. dissectus Henderson, Rhodora 32: 25. 1930. (Ranunculus ciliosus 

 Howell, Fl. N.W. Amer. 1: 17. 1897. Ranunculus marmorarius Jepson & Tracy in Jepson, Fl. Calif. 542. 

 1922.) Stems erect or reclining, 2-3 dm. long, 1.5-2.5 mm. in diameter; radical leaves thin, usually deeply 

 3-parted, parts commonly simple and lanceolate or lanceolately-parted, ultimate lobes not triangular, pubescence 

 not particularly dense but somewhat silky; petals 5, 5-10 mm. long by 4—6 mm. broad, glabrous, the beak 1.5- 

 1.9 mm. long, slender, straight, hooked at the extreme tip, prolonging the ventral margin of the achene body, 

 rarely like the typical species. Meadows, Transition Zone; Rogue River— Umpqua River Divide, and mountains 

 and plateaus of eastern Oregon, also Marble Mountain, Siskiyou County, California. Type locality: Crater 

 Lake National Park, Oregon. 



Ranunculus occidentalis var. Howellii Greene, Pittonia 3: 14. 1896. Stems commonly erect or sub- 

 erect, 2-4 dm. long, 1-3 mm. in diameter; radical leaves simple and like the typical species, but often with 

 the primary parting deeper or with more dense silky pubescence; petals 5-6, 7—12 mm. or 18 mm. long by 3-6 

 mm. or 8 mm. broad, usually 2-2.2 times as long as broad; achene body broadly ovate, 3 mm. long by 2.5 mm. 

 dorsoventrally, appressed-hairy or glabrous, the beak 2 mm. long, straight but hooked at the extreme tip, pro- 

 longing the ventral margin of the achene body. Openly wooded hills; borderland between the Transition and 

 Upper Sonoran Zones; Rogue River watershed in Jackson and Josephine Counties, Oregon. Type locality: 

 Ashland, Oregon. 



6. Ranunculus californicus Benth. California Buttercup. Fig. 1827. 



Ranunculus dissectus Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey 316. 1840. Not Bieb. 1819. 

 Ranunculus Deppei Nutt. in Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 21, cited as synonym. 1838. 

 Ranunculus delphinifolius Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. Suppl. 659. 1840. Not Torr. 1818. 

 Ranunculus californicus Benth. PI. Hartw. 295. 1848. 

 Ranunculus californicus var. latilobus A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 375. 1886. 



Perennial, stems erect, 3-6 dm. long, spreading-pubescent or glabrous. Basal leaves mostly 

 long-ovate, but often broader than long, 2.5-7 cm. long by 1.5-4 cm. broad, rarely simple and 

 3-parted, nearly always pinnate, leaflets 3-5, cuneate, lobed or parted, appressed-pubescent; sepals 

 greenish yellow, reflexed, pointed, 4-8 mm. long, sparsely pubescent ; petals 9-16, bright golden 

 yellow, rather short-clawed, 8—15 mm. long by 3-5 mm. broad; achenes 5-35, subdiscoid or 

 obovate, 2-2.5 mm. long, very strongly compressed, smooth and glabrous or rarely hairy; the 

 beak one-third as long as the body, recurved or hooked above ; receptacle not elongated in fruit. 



Vernally moist lands, Upper Sonoran or rarely Transition Zones; Humboldt County, California, south in 

 the Outer Coast Ranges to Lower California, east from San Francisco Bay to the Sierra Nevada foothills. 

 Type locality: Monterey, California. Jan.-May. 



Ranunculus californicus var. gratus Jepson, Fl. W. Mid. Calif. 201. 1901. Subglabrous or thinly 

 pilose, except on the leaves; terrestrial; stems erect or reclining, 3-7 dm. long, 1.5-3 mm. in diameter, a little 

 fistulous, not tough; radical leaves simple, broadly cordate or very broadly ovate in outline, 1.8-4 cm. long by 

 2.3-5 cm. broad, 3-parted or -lobed, the lobes again shallowly lobed, cuneate, thin, ultimate lobes obtuse or acute, 

 rather thinly pubescent, petioles 7-15 cm. or 25 cm. long; cauline leaves often 3-parted and with a strikingly 

 elongated oblong middle part; petals 5-9 or 12, 3-10 mm. long by 2-5 mm. broad; achenes 10-20, each nearly 

 discoid, 2.5 mm. long by 2 mm. broad, the beak slender, 1-1.5 mm. long, recurved. Deep canyons and north 

 slopes. Humid Transition Zone; inner edge of the redwood belt from Curry County, Oregon, to western Lake 

 and Napa Counties and the Monterey Peninsula, California. Type locality: hills near Napa Valley, California. 



Ranunculus californicus var. cuneatus Greene, Fl. Fran. 299. 1892. (Ranunculus californicus var. 

 crassifolius Greene, Erythea 1: 125. 1893.) Moderately or sparsely pilose or short-pubescent; terrestrial; 

 reported to be often annual; stems prostrate, only the pedicels assurgent, rooting at the basal underground 

 nodes, 1-2.5 dm. long, not ordinarily fistulous, tough; radical leaves simple, round-cordate or cordate, 1.5-4 

 cm. long by 2-6 cm. broad, 3-lobed to deeply 3-parted, the lobes again lobed or toothed, cuneate, ultimate 

 lobes rounded or obtuse, moderately pubescent, petioles 3-12 cm. long; sepals striking for being usually purple 



