General: Perennial herb from fibrous-rooted stem-base, sometimes with rhizomes; stems single, erect or nearly so, 20-110 cm tall, stiff-hairy or smooth, hollow.
Leaves: Basal 5-sided in outline, deeply 3- to 5-parted, 2-5 cm long, 3-10 cm wide, the leaflets 1- to 2-times incised, the ultimate segments narrowly elliptic or oblong to lanceolate, margins toothed or shallowly lobed, tips pointed to rounded, the stalks up to 20 cm long; lower stem leaves similar to basal, but shorter-stalked, transitional to the upper stem leaves and bracts, these reduced to 3 linear segments unstalked on the sheath, entire or few-toothed.
Flowers: Inflorescence few- to many-flowered cymes; flower stalks to 12 cm long; receptacle smooth; petals usually 5, distinct, yellow, 8-14 mm long, 7-13 mm wide, nectary on upper surface, the nectary scale smooth, just over 1 mm long; sepals 5, spreading, early deciduous, greenish, 4-6 mm long, 2-5 mm wide, long stiff-hairy; stamens 15-30; pistils 20-40 (50).
Fruits: Achenes, 15 to 50 in a globe-shaped head 5-7 mm wide, the achenes egg-shaped, 2-3 mm long, 1.8-2.4 mm wide, smooth, margins prominent, keeled; beaks wide and flattened, 0.2-1 mm long, tip of variable length, curved or straight, awl-tipped.
Moist to mesic meadows, pastures, clearings, fields and roadsides in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent in BC S of 56ÝÜN; introduced from Eurasia.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
BC Ministry of Environment:BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer,
the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.
Synonyms and Alternate Names
Ranunculus acris subsp. acris Ranunculus acris subsp. strigulosus (Schur) Hyl. Ranunculus acris var. latisectus G. Beck Ranunculus acris var. stevenii (Andrz. ex Besser) Lange Ranunculus acris var. typicus G. Beck Ranunculus acris var. villosus (Drab.) S.M. Coles Ranunculus boreanus Jord.