Ranunculus parviflorus

Stems erect or nearly erect, hispid. Basal and lower cauline leaf blades semicircular or reniform, 3-parted or -divided, 1.5-3.2 × 1-2.4 cm, again lobed, base cordate, margins dentate, apex rounded. Flowers pedicellate; receptacle glabrous; sepals 5, reflexed, 1.5-2 × 0.8-1.2 mm, densely pubescent; petals 0-5, 1.1-1.8 × 0.2-0.7 mm. Heads of achenes globose, 3-5 × 3-5 mm; achenes 10-20 per head, 1.7-2 × 1.4-1.7 mm, faces papillose, each papilla crowned with hooked bristle, otherwise glabrous, margin smooth; beak deltate with slender recurved tip, 0.4-0.6 mm.

Flowering spring-summer (Mar-Jul). Roadsides, fields, and woods; 50-200 m; introduced; Ala., Ark., Calif., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ky., La., Md., Miss., Mo., N.J., N.Y., N.C., Okla., S.C., Tenn., Tex., Va.; native to Europe; Pacific Islands; Australia.

Annual, 1-3 dm, branched from the base, softly villous; lvs cordate-rotund, palmately 3-5-lobed, the lobes incised and sharply toothed; pedicels short and surpassed by the lvs at first, later elongating; pet 1-3 mm; receptacle glabrous; achenes subrotund, 1.5-3 mm, the margin nearly or quite smooth, the sides with many short, slender, hooked spines from swollen bases; beak flat, triangular, 0.5-1 mm; 2n=14, 28. Native of Europe, found here and there in our range as a weed. Apr.-July.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.