Stems erect or decumbent, hirsute or glabrous. Basal leaf blades 2.8-5.8 × 4-6 cm, leaflets or segments undivided or 1-2×-lobed or -parted, ultimate segments oblong-elliptic to lanceolate or linear, margins toothed or entire, apex acute to rounded-acute. Achenes 1.8-3.2 × 1.4-2.4 mm. 2 n = 28.

Flowering winter-summer (Mar-Aug). Grassland and open woodland; 0-2000 m; Calif., Oreg.; Mexico (Baja California).

Ranunculus californicus var. californicus is variable and has been divided into varieties based on indument, achene size, and especially leaf form. Those characters are poorly correlated, however, and most of the named varieties do not seem natural.