Kingdom: Plantae

Phylum: Magnoliophyta -- flowering plants

Class: Magnoliopsida -- dicotyledons

Order: Ranunculales

Family: Ranunculaceae -- buttercup

Variety: Two varieties are commonly recognized. Plants of lower elevations with the basal leaves ovate to obovate and usually shallowly lobed are called var. glaberrimus, while more montane plants with entire margins and elliptic to oblanceolate leaves are placed in var. ellipticus. The two varieties may intergrade and are sometimes sympatric.

Common Name: sagebrush buttercup

Species Code: RAGL

Origin: Native to dry to mesic shrub-steppe, grasslands and forests of western North America from British Columbia south to northern California and east to North Dakota and New Mexico.

Rare: no

Form: forb, perennial from a cluster of fleshy roots; stems usually several, 4-15 cm tall, prostrate to ascending, simple or branched above, glabrous to sparsely hirsute above, not fistulose.

Mature height: 1-4 inches

Duration: perennial

Longevity: short-lived

Habitat Type: prairie

Wetland Indicator Status: FACU

Leaves: mainly basal; petiole at least as long as the blade; blade fleshy, 1-5 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, elliptic to ovate or reniform, entire to shallowly or deeply 3-lobed; cauline leaves few, alternate, similar except short-petiolate to subsessile.

Flowers: 1 to several, borne on pedicels to 10 cm long; sepals 5, spreading to reflexed, purplish tinged, 5-8 mm long, glabrous to hirsute, early deciduous; petals usually 5 but occasionally to 10, shiny yellow, ovate, 8-15 mm long and nearly as wide; receptacle globose, glabrous to finely pubescent; pistils and stamens numerous.

Flower color: yellow

Bloom: early spring

Bloom starts on: early March

Bloom ends on: early May

Fruit: achenes, numerous in a spheric cluster, 1.5-2 mm long, obovate, usually finely puberulent, slightly winged; beak straight or curved, 0.4-0.8 mm long, persistent.

Characteristics:
Reproduces sexually by seed.
25,000 seeds/lb (USDA NRCS PLANTS Database 2010).
Perennating organ is the thick, fleshy roots.
Flowers are perfect.
Fruit is an achene.
2n=80 for var. ellipticus (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993, University of British Columbia 2003).
2n=128 for var. glaberrimus (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993).
Polyploidy is present.
Plants were used as an arrowhead poison (Mastrogiuseppe 2000). Some native peoples used the plants medicinally.
Deer, elk, and livestock eat the plant early in the spring (Tirmenstein 1988). Rocky Mountain elk make minor use of the plants in the spring and summer (Kufeld 1973).
Poisonous to livestock and humans. May cause dermatitis.

Comments: It is likely that at least some of the species of Ranunculus hybridize. Apomixis may further complicate the taxonomy. Both processes are known in some of the Old World species and further work is needed in the North American species (Flora of North America Editorial Committee 1993).

Sun requirement: full sun

Soil moisture: xeric to mesic

Precipitation: According to the USDA NRCS PLANTS Database (2010), the range is 35-55 inches. It is able to thrive in much more xeric conditions, however. The lower range is probably closer to 10 or 12 inches.

Fire: Knowledge is limited but the plants probably survive by being dormant during the fire season. Reproduces vegetatively after being burned (Tirmenstein 1988).

Hazards: Poisonous to livestock and humans. May cause dermatitis.

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: fall

Stratification: No information is available, but probably requires lengthy cold moist stratification.

Seed yield: low

Seed harvest: difficult

Seed first harvest: no information

Seed cleaning: medium difficulty

Planting duration: no information

Seed insect problem: none noted

Seed shatter: medium

Seed size: medium

Seed harvest date: late spring

Seed comments: The small plants senesce after flowering and it is difficult to find them to collect seed.

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Keywords: native perennial upland forb

Propagation:
No information is available, but probably requires lengthy cold moist stratification.
Reproduces sexually by seed and may reproduce vegetatively from roots.

Notes: Ranunculus glaberrimus plants stay low to the ground and often bloom in March. The shiny yellow flowers are one of the first signs of spring. Once the seeds are mature, the plants senesce and it is almost impossible to find them. You might want to mark the position of the plants so you don’t hoe or dig them up late in the season. Seed germination requirements are not known. Common name is sagebrush buttercup (Skinner et al 2005).

References:
Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 7+ vols. New York and Oxford. Oxford University Press. Online at http://www.fna.org/FNA/

Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

Kufeld, Roland. 1973. Foods Eaten by the Rocky Mountain Elk. Journal of Range Management 26:106-113.

Mastrogiuseppe, Joy. 2000. Nez Perce Ethnobotany: a Synthetic Review. Report to the Nez Perce National Historical Park, Spalding, ID Project PX9370-97-024.

Skinner, David M., Paul Warnick, Bill French, and Mary Fauci. 2005. More Palouse Forbs for Landscaping. USDA NRCS Pullman Plant Materials Center and Palouse Prairie Foundation. Online at http://www.wsu.edu/pmc_nrcs/Docs/More_Forbs_for_Landscaping.pdf

Tirmenstein, D. 1988. Ranunculus glaberrimus. In: Fire Effects Information System. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Available online at http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/ accessed 3/5/10.

University of British Columbia. 2003. British Columbia Flora. University of British Columbia Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research. Accessed 3/5/10 online at http://www.bcflora.org/

USDA NRCS. 2010. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 5 March 2010). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Links:
Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species account from the Fire Effects Information System
Species description from Flora of North America
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium