Ranunculus macranthus

Stems erect or decumbent, never rooting nodally, hispid, base not bulbous. Roots tuberous. Basal leaf blades ovate in outline, 3-5-foliolate, 3.8-10 × 2.7-9 cm, leaflets 1×-lobed, ultimate segments narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, margins entire or with few teeth, apex broadly acute to rounded-obtuse. Flowers: receptacle hispid; sepals spreading or weakly reflexed ca. 1 mm above base, 7-10 × 3-5 mm, hispid; petals 10-22, yellow, 12-22 × 4-9 mm. Heads of achenes globose to cylindric, 8-14 × 8-10 mm; achenes 2.2-4.2 × 2.8-3.4 mm, glabrous, margin forming narrow rib 0.4-0.6 mm wide; beak usually persistent, filiform from deltate base, straight, 2-4 mm. 2 n = 32.

Flowering late winter-spring (Mar-May). Riverbanks and wet meadows; 0-400 m; Tex.

FNA 1997, Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougall 1973

Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Herbaceous perennials, stems to 90 cm long, erect or decumbent, never rooting nodally, hispid to hirsute throughout or appressed pubescent above, base not bulbous, roots tuberous. Leaves: Basal leaf blades ovate in outline, divided to ternately compound, 3.5-15 cm long and 2.7-10 cm wide, leaflets 1-lobed, ultimate segments narrowly elliptic to oblanceolate, margins entire or with few teeth, apices broadly acute to rounded-obtuse, the main divisions broadly cuneate at the base, petioles 5-25 cm long, upper cauline leaves merely lobed and entire, 20-25 mm long. Flowers: Bright yellow, petals 10-22, 10-22 mm long and 4-9 mm wide, sepals 5, ovate, 4-10 mm long and 3-5 mm wide, hispid to hirsute, scarious-margined, spreading or weakly reflexed to 1 mm above the base, receptacles hispid, nectary scales free laterally nearly to the base. Fruits: Fruiting heads subglobose, about 1 cm in diameter. Achenes ovoid to discoid, 2.2-4.2 mm long and 2.8-3.4 mm wide, surfaces glabrous, with globose to cylindric heads, 8-14 mm long and 8-10 mm wide, the margins forming a narrow rib 0.4-0.6 mm wide, beaks us Ecology: Found on riverbanks, in pine forests and wet meadows, from 4,000-7,500 ft (1219-2286 m); flowering March-August. Distribution: Arizona, Texas; Mexico Notes: This pretty buttercup has many bright yellow petals arranged around a flat or somewhat raised yellow center. Good indicators for this species are the perennial duration, the straight beaks of the achenes 2-5 mm long, and the filiform leaves. Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses; decoction of plant used as a wash for wounds, poultice of mashed root mixed with pitch applied to the chest for tuberculosis, leaves boiled and used for food, roots eaten as winter food, compound decoction given to cows when bearing a calf and the womb comes out, and flowers of several species used as a poison on arrowheads. Synonyms: Ranunculus fascicularis var. cuneiformis, Ranunculus macranthus var. typicus Editor: LCrumbacher2012 Etymology: Ranunculus comes from the Latin rana, "little frog," because many species tend to grow in moist places, and macranthus likely means large-flowered.