General: Coarse plant with stout stems; stems with long bristly hairs, stems spreading.

Flowers: Yellow flowers in open clusters at stem tips, flower measured at 15 mm diameter.

Leaves: The basal and stem leaves similar. Leaves ternate, leaflets are 3-lobed, leaf measured at 8 cm wide, leaflet measured at 4.5 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. Leaf bottoms pubescent, margins have long hairs, and a few long hairs on leaf tops. Stem leaves alternate.

Height: Height listed in Budd's Flora to 60 cm, we measured plants to 29 cm tall.

Habitat: Edges of marshes, wet meadows and thickets.

Abundance: Common.

Origin: Native.

Similar species: To distinguish this plant from other Ranunculus species look for: stout stems with long bristly hairs, ternate leaves, large size, flowers 10 to 15 mm across.

This plant might be mistaken with R. pensylvanicus, found in similar habitat, also bristly hairy, and also has three-parted leaves.

- The flowers of R. pensylvanicus are 6-8 mm diameter (petals 2 mm long), with the petals shorter than the sepals, seed head oblong; the flowers of R. macounii about 15 mm diameter (petals 4-7 mm long), with the petals longer than the sepals, seed head round.

When and where photographed: Photos taken in a muddy marsh, June 21st, Cypress Hills, about 400 km south west of our home in Regina, SK.