CROWFOOT FAMILY 207 



19. Ranunculus Eschscholtzii Schlect. Eschscholtz's Buttercup. Fig. 1840. 



Ranunculus Eschscholtzii Schlect. Animad. Ranunc. 2: 16. pi. 1. 1820. 

 Ranunculus Eschscholtzii var. Helleri L. Benson, Amer. Journ. Bot. 23: 169. 1936. 



Glabrous perennial, caudex about 1 cm. long, rather thick, stems 15-35 cm. long, nearly 

 simple. Basal leaves semicircular to reniform, 2-3 cm. long by 2.5-4 cm. broad, deeply 3-parted, 

 the middle lobe again 3-lobed or entire, the lateral unequally 3- to 5-lobed, all divisions rounded ; 

 sepals dorsally lavender-tinged, spreading, about half to three-fifths the length of the petals; 

 petals 5, yellow, 6-10 mm. long ; achenes 30-75 in a cylindrical or ovoid head 9-16 mm. long and 

 5-7 mm. in diameter, 1 mm. long, beak filiform, half to four-fifths the length of the body ; re- 

 ceptacle elongated in fruit, glabrous. 



Meadows and talus slopes near timber-line, Arctic- Alpine and Hudsonian Zones; Alaska south through the 

 Olympic, Cascade, and Wallowa Mountains of Washington and Oregon; also in the Rocky Mountains and rare 

 in the Sierra Nevada. Type locality: Unalaska, Aleutian Islands, Alaska. July-Aug. 



Ranunculus Eschscholtzii var. Suksdorfii (A. Gray) L. Benson, Amer. Journ. Bot. 23: 170. 1936. Caudex 

 1-1 . S or rarely 2.5 cm. long by 3-5 or 7 mm. in diameter; basal leaves thin, deeply 3-parted, the middle lobe 

 again 3-lobed, the ultimate lobes and sinuses sharply acute, scarious stipular leaf bases 1-2 cm. long, annually 

 deciduous; petals 7-11 mm. long by 5-10 mm. broad; achenes glabrous. Mountain meadows and slopes, Arctic- 

 Alpine and Hudsonian Zones; Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Washington, east to northern Idaho and Mon- 

 tana; 1,700-2,000 meters elevation. Type locality: Mount Adams, Washington. 



Ranunculus Eschscholtzii var. trisectus (Eastw.) L. Benson, Amer. Journ. Bot. 23: 170. 1936. Caudex 

 1 or 3-6 cm. long by 4-7 mm. in diameter, usually branched; basal leaves usually thin, deeply 3-parted, the 

 middle lobe again 3- to 7-lobed, scarious stipular leaf bases 1.5-2.5 cm. long, usually persistent for a season 

 or more after death of the leaf; achenes hispid or glabrous. Mountain meadows and slopes, Arctic-Alpine Zone; 

 Wallowa and Steen Mountains, eastern Oregon, east to mountains of central Idaho; 2,000-3,000 meters eleva- 

 tion. Type locality : Wallowa Mountains. 



Ranunculus Eschscholtzii var. oxynotus (A. Gray) Jepson, Fl. Calif. 1 : 537. 1922. Caudex 3-7 mm. 

 long by 5-12 mm. in diameter, often branched; basal leaves thick, 3-cleft or rarely parted, the middle lobe entire 

 and Ungulate or rarely (Tulare County) 3-lobed, the lateral lobes crenate, stipular leaf bases thickened and 

 persistent for one or more seasons; achenes glabrous. Meadows and talus, Arctic- Alpine or Hudsonian Zone; 

 Warner Mountains, California, south in the Sierra Nevada and neighboring desert ranges of California and 

 adjacent Nevada and in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains, California. Type locality: Castle 

 Peak (Mount Stanford), Sierra County, California. 



20. Ranunculus verecundus Robinson. Timber-line Buttercup. Fig. 1841. 



Ranunculus verecundus Robinson, Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. 11: 274. 1906. 

 Ranunculus ramulosus M. E. Jones, Contr. West. Bot. No. 14: 47. 1912. 



Glabrous perennial, caudex short, stem 8-20 cm. long, mostly unbranched, slender. Basal 

 leaves cordate or reniform, 7-12 mm. long by 9-18 mm. broad, palmately 3-parted, the middle 

 lobe again 3-lobed, the lateral unequally 3- to 5-lobed, lobes obtuse or rounded, sinuses rounded 

 out ; cauline leaves 1-3 ; pedicels 1-10 cm. long ; sepals dorsally lavender-tinged, spreading, 

 nearly equaling the corolla, pubescent ; petals 5, yellow, rather narrow, 3-5 mm. long ; achenes 

 in a cylindrical head 5-8 mm. long, obovate, 1.5 mm. long, smooth and glabrous, the beak one- 

 half as long as the body, distinctly recurved at the tip; receptacle elongated in fruit, glabrous. 



Wet gravelly slopes above the timber-line, Arctic- Alpine Zone; central Alaska, Mount Stuart, Mount 

 Rainier, and Mount Adams, Washington, and Custer County, Idaho. Type locality: Mount Adams, Washing- 

 ton. July-Aug. 



21. Ranunculus glaberrimus Hook. Sagebrush Buttercup. Fig. 1842. 



Ranunculus glaberrimus Hook. Fl. Bor. Amer. 1: 12. pi. 5. f. A. 1829. 

 Ranunculus Austiniae Greene, Erythea 3: 44. 1895. 



Glabrous perennial, roots numerous, large, stems reclining, 4-18 cm. long. Basal leaves 

 round to ovate, 2-3 cm. long, 3- (or 5-) lobed at the apex, thick; cauline leaves 3-parted or 

 -divided ; peduncles 5-12 cm. long ; sepals dorsally lavender-tinged, elliptic or round ; petals 5, 

 rarely more, bright yellow, broadly obovate, 6-15 mm. long; achenes 75-150 in a globose head 

 1-2 cm. in diameter, nearly spherical, 1 . 5 mm. long, turgid, usually finely pubescent, beaks 

 slender or flattened and a little winged, one-third or one-half as long as the bodies; receptacle 

 enlarged in fruit, glabrous. 



Sandy soil, sagebrush region, Arid Transition and Upper Sonoran Zones; British Columbia to Plumas 

 County, California, east to Colorado. Type locality: Kettle Falls, Columbia River, Washington. April-May. 



Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus Greene, Fl. Fran. 1 : 298. 1892. Basal leaves entire, elliptical 

 or oblanceolate, 3-5 cm. long, tapering into the petiole; upper cauline leaves with the middle division elongated. 

 Mountain meadows, Canadian Zone; mountains in the range of the typical species, Okanogan County, Wash- 

 ington, south to Nevada County, California, east to Colorado. Type locality: Colorado. 



Ranunculus glaberrimus var. reconditus (A. Nels. & Macbr.) L. Benson, Amer. Journ. Bot. 23: 170. 

 1936. {Ranunculus triternatus A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 370. 1886. Not Poir. 1823.) Basal leaves finely 

 dissected, being triternately parted or divided, the primary divisions long-petiolate and the lobes from filiform- 

 linear to linear-spatulate, obtuse, the dissected blade deltoid to reniform, 2 cm. long by 2.5 cm. broad; cauline 

 leaves similar. Vernally moist slopes of high hills, Arid Transition Zone; Klickitat County, Washington, and 

 The Dalles of the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. Type locality: Goldendale, Washington. 



22. Ranunculus Flammula var. ovalis (Bigelow) L. Benson. Creeping 



Buttercup or Crowfoot. Fig. 1843. 



Ranunculus filiformis var. ovalis Bigelow, Fl. Bost. ed. 2. 239. 1824. 

 Ranunculus reptans var. ovalis Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1 : 16. 1838. 

 Ranunculus reptans var. strigulosus Freyn, Deutsch. Bot. Monatss. 8: 181. 1890. 

 Ranunculus Flammula var. ovalis L. Benson, Bull. Torrey Club 69: 305. 1942. 



Glabrous or slightly appressed-pubescent perennial, the stems creeping or reclining, rooting at 

 the nodes, often stolon-like, 1-4 dm. long. Leaves usually all alike, linear-spatulate to oblanceo- 



