Ranunculus acris (Tall Buttercup) - photos and description
Basal
leaves in above photo
Stem
leaf in above photo
General: Upright plant, branching above, with long flower stems.
Flowers: Flowers bright yellow, large (for Ranunculus) to 2 cm diameter with petals 1 cm or more long, 1 to 4 flowers per flower stem. The edges of the petals touch one another. Flower stems sparsely hairy with long hairs.
Leaves: Numerous basal leaves with long stalks, deeply cleft, palmately 3-lobed. Upper leaves alternate, reduced, sessile, dissected into 3 lobes. Leaves pubescent.
Height: Budd's Flora lists the height to 80 cm, we measured plants to 48 cm tall.
Habitat: Damp meadows and roadsides.
Abundance: Fairly common.
Origin: Introduced.
How to identify this species of Ranunculus: Long flower stems, flowers with petals 1 cm long or longer, palmately lobed basal leaves.
When and where photographed: Photos taken June 24th, moist disturbed area on edge of woods, boreal forest about 500 km northeast of Regina, SK, and June 27th, benchland prairie, Cypress Hills, about 425 km southwest of our home in Regina, SK.