Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus
Ranunculus glaberrimus var. glaberrimus

General:
Perennial herb from cluster of fleshy roots, the roots 1-3 mm wide; stems prostrate to ascending, simple or branched above, 4-15 cm tall/long, smooth, not hollow.

Leaves:
Mostly basal, persistent, kidney- or egg-shaped, to narrowly elliptic, 0.7-5.2 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, margins entire or shallowly 3-lobed at tip, tips rounded to pointed, bases blunt to narrowed, the stalks long, slender; stem leaves alternate, unstalked or nearly so, deeply 3-lobed; smooth.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of 1- to 4-flowered, terminal cymes, on stalks to 10 cm long; receptacle smooth; petals 5-10 or more, distinct, yellow, 8-13 mm long, 5-12 mm wide, egg-shaped, nectary on upper surface, the nectary scale smooth or fringed with hairs, 1.5-2 mm long; sepals 5, early deciduous, spreading to bent back, 5-8 mm long, 3-7 mm wide, smooth above or sparsely hairy; stamens 40-80; pistils 30-150.

Fruits:
Achenes, numerous in a globe-shaped head 7-12 (20) mm long, 6-11 (20) mm wide, the achenes egg-shaped, plump, slightly winged, 1.4-2.2 mm long, 1.1-1.8 mm wide, usually minutely-hairy; beaks persistent, lanceolate- to awl-shaped, straight or curved, 0.4-1 mm long.

Notes:
Two sympatric and intergrading varieties occur in BC:

1. Basal leaf blades egg-shaped, usually shallowly lobed; stem leaves usually entire..................... var. glaberrimus

1. Basal leaf blades oblanceolate to elliptic, usually entire; stem leaves entire to 3-lobed..................... var. ellipticus Greene

Source:  The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Flower Colour:
Yellow

Blooming Period:
Mid Spring

Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present from Spring to Summer

Source:  The USDA