PLANTAINLEAF BUTTERCUP 



Ranun'culus alismaefo'lius, syn. R. calthaeflo' rus 



W161 

 (2 leaves) 



Flowers solitary, or, when several, in 

 a rather open cluster 



Petals 5, yellow, rarely white, up to 

 in. long, each with a nectar-bearing 

 pit at base covered by a small scale; 

 stamens numerous 



Outer flower parts (sepals) 5, green, 

 or sometimes yellowish, soon falling off 



Leaves with entire or sometimes 

 slightly toothed margins, usually with- 

 out hairs, up to 43 in. long, oval to lance- 

 shaped, tapering to the tip and gradu- 

 ally to the stalk which is longer on the 

 lower leaves ; upper leaves narrower and 

 shorter, stalked or stalkless 



Stems leafy, erect, rather stout, hair- 

 less or slightly hairy near flowers, spar- 

 ingly branched above the middle 



Kootstock short, thick 



Roots numerous, thickened, fibrous 



"Seeds" (achenes) smooth, numer- 

 ous, borne in a somewhat flattened- 

 spherical head, each achene tipped with 

 a small, curved beak 



Plaintainleaf buttercup is one of the more common and widely dis- 

 tributed buttercups in the mountains of the Western States, occurring 

 from British Columbia to western Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, and 

 northern California. The purport of the common and specific names 

 is practically similar: alismaef&lius means like the foliage of the 

 aquatic genus Alisma, whose species have plantainlike leaves and are 

 known as waterplantains. 



Plantainleaf buttercup is one of the first plants to appear in the 

 spring, normally growing very rapidly and maturing by midsum- 



