Ranunculus aestivalis | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Ranunculales |
Family: | Ranunculaceae |
Genus: | Ranunculus |
Species: | R. aestivalis |
Binomial name | |
Ranunculus aestivalis (L.D. Benson) Van Buren & Harper | |
Ranunculus aestivalis is a rare species of buttercup known by the common names fall buttercup [1] and autumn buttercup. It is endemic to the state of Utah in the United States, where it exists only in Garfield County next to the Sevier River. [2] It is restricted to a moist microhabitat in an otherwise dry, open ecosystem, and the amount of available habitat is very limited. [3] This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States. It has been described as "the most graceful and showy members of the genus in the western United States," but also "one of the state's rarest and most restricted plants." [3]
This plant is often treated as a variety of Ranunculus acriformis [4] or Ranunculus acris . [1] A genetic analysis study showed it to be sufficiently separate and it was elevated to species status by one group of authors in 1994. [5]
This plant produces a hairy, erect stem 30 to 60 centimeters tall. The leaves are divided into three dissected parts, or sometimes three leaflets. Each plant produces about 6 to 10 flowers. [3] The flower has five, or occasionally ten yellow petals each around a centimeter long. [4] Blooming occurs in July through October, giving the plant its common name. [3] The specific epithet, aestivalis, comes from Latin and means "pertaining to the summer". [6]
This wildflower grows in wet riparian meadows on the western slope of the Sevier River Valley of Utah. The meadows are fed by springs, keeping them marshy. The plants grow on slightly raised mounds in the boggy meadows and adjacent drier habitat. Other plants in the habitat include Achillea millefolium , Juncus articus var. balticus, Carex nebrascensis , Symphyotrichum spathulatum var. spathulatum, Plantago eriopoda , Lysimachia maritima , Carex aquatilis , Hordeum jubatum , and Trifolium , Dodecatheon , and Eleocharis species. Mosses grow among the plants as well. [3]
Threats to the plant include changes in the local hydrology, because the plant relies on a certain level of moisture in its microhabitat. Irrigation may be a cause of these changes. [7] Grazing may also affect the plant. [2] Grazing may have positive effects at times, as livestock trims down competing vegetation, such as sedges. [3] A genetic bottleneck may result from the small numbers of remaining plants. [8]
This plant was feared extinct in the 1970s and was rediscovered in 1982. The Nature Conservancy purchased the land holding the buttercups and made it a nature preserve. [2] [8] The plant was propagated in tissue culture. [8] The Conservancy and other agencies have planted some autumn buttercup plants in the Conservancy's preserve near Panguitch, Utah to augment the small population. [9]
Ranunculus acris is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, and is one of the more common buttercups across Europe and temperate Eurasia. Common names include meadow buttercup, tall buttercup, common buttercup and giant buttercup.
Ranunculus gmelinii, Gmelin's buttercup or small yellow water-crowfoot, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is native to northern North America, where it occurs across Canada and the northern and higher-elevation regions of the United States. It is also present in Eurasia.
Ranunculus canus is a species of buttercup known by the common name Sacramento Valley buttercup. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the Central Valley and adjacent mountain foothills, and the Transverse Ranges just south. It grows in grassland and meadows in woodland and forest habitat. This plant can be very similar in appearance to the California buttercup, and may be difficult to distinguish from it. It is variable in form. In general the plant is a perennial herb producing erect, usually hairy stems up to 65 centimeters tall. The hairy leaves are each made up of three leaflets, leaves occurring lower on the plant with wider leaflets which may be notched to lobed, and upper leaves with narrow, toothed leaflets. The flower has up to 23 shiny yellow petals and many yellow stamens and pistils at the center. The fruit is an achene, borne in a spherical cluster of 11 or more.
Halerpestes cymbalaria is a species of buttercup known by the common names alkali buttercup and seaside buttercup. It is native to much of Eurasia and parts of North and South America, where it grows in many types of habitat, especially in moist to wet areas such as marshes, bogs, and moist spring meadows. It is a perennial herb producing several stems a few centimeters to nearly 40 centimeters long. Some are prostrate against the ground and are stolons which root in moist substrate, and some are erect. The leaves are variable in shape, the basal ones with notched or slightly divided leaf blades borne on long petioles, and any upper leaves much reduced in size. The inflorescence bears one or more flowers on erect stalks. The flower has five to eight pale yellow petals, each under a centimeter long. The protruding receptacle at the center of the flower becomes a cylindrical cluster of fruits, each of which is an achene.
Ranunculus eschscholtzii is a species of buttercup flower known by the common name Eschscholtz's buttercup.
Ranunculus orthorhynchus is a species of buttercup known by the common name straightbeak buttercup. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to Utah, where it grows in moist areas in many types of habitat, including meadows and marshes.
Ranunculus populago is a species of buttercup known by the common names popular buttercup and mountain buttercup. It is native to the Pacific Northwest and surrounding areas in the United States, where it grows in wet habitat, such as bogs, streambanks, and moist mountain meadows. It is a perennial herb producing an upright, mostly hairless stem up to about 30 centimeters in maximum height. Leaves have oval blades borne on long petioles. The flower has usually five or six shiny yellow petals each a few millimeters long around a central nectary and many stamens and pistils. The fruit is an achene borne in a spherical cluster.
Carex lutea is a rare species of sedge known by the common names golden sedge and sulphur sedge. It is endemic to North Carolina, where it is known only from Pender and Onslow Counties in the Cape Fear River watershed. There are nine populations. The plant was discovered in 1991 and described to science as a new species in 1994, and it has not been thoroughly studied nor completely surveyed yet. Its rarity was obvious by 2002, however, when it was federally listed as an endangered species.
Carex specuicola is a rare species of sedge known by the common name Navajo sedge. It is native to a small section of the Colorado Plateau in the United States, its distribution straddling the border between Utah and Arizona, and completely within the Navajo Nation. There are several populations but they are limited to a specific type of habitat. The plants grow from the sides of steep, often vertical cliffs of red Navajo Sandstone, in areas where water trickles from the rock. It occurs at elevations between 5,700 and 6,000 feet, usually in shady spots. Though it is not a grass, the sedge grows in inconspicuous clumps resembling tufts of grass sticking out of the rock face. When the sedge was federally listed as a threatened species in 1985, it was known from only three populations in Coconino County, Arizona, with no more than 700 plants existing. The species has since been observed in northeastern Arizona and San Juan County, Utah.
Phacelia argillacea is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names clay phacelia and Atwood's phacelia. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known only from one canyon in Utah County. It is "one of Utah's most endangered species"; it is "one of the nation's rarest plants" and is federally listed as an endangered species of the United States.
Physaria filiformis is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Missouri bladderpod and limestone glade bladderpod. It is native to Missouri and Arkansas in the United States. It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1987 and it was downlisted to threatened status in 2003. P. filiformis remains listed as an endangered species at the state level in Missouri.
Townsendia aprica is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Last Chance Townsend daisy. It is endemic to Utah in the United States, where it is known from three counties. It faces a number of threats and it is a federally listed threatened species of the United States.
Ranunculus pedatifidus is a species of buttercup known by the common names surefoot buttercup, northern buttercup, and birdfoot buttercup. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring throughout the northern latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two varieties, var. pedatifidus occurring mostly in Asia and var. affinis mostly native to North America.
Ranunculus allenii, commonly known as Allen's buttercup, is a flowering plant in the crowfoot or buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Generally found in wetlands in northern latitudes, it bears yellow flowers in summer, which are pollinated by insects.
Carex saxatilis is a species of sedge known by the common names rock sedge and russet sedge.
Carex oronensis is a species of sedge known by the common name Orono sedge. It is endemic to Maine in the United States, where it occurs mainly in the Penobscot River Valley. It is the only plant that is endemic to the state of Maine. The type locality is Orono.
Lygodesmia doloresensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Dolores River skeletonplant. It is native to a small area of Colorado and neighboring Utah in the United States. This species is sometimes considered a variety of Lygodesmia grandiflora.
Potentilla basaltica is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common names Soldier Meadows cinquefoil and basalt cinquefoil. It is endemic to a small area of the Modoc Plateau and Warner Mountains in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada.
Salix arizonica is a species of willow known by the common name Arizona willow. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it occurs in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.
Sisyrinchium sarmentosum is a species of flowering plant in the iris family known by the common names mountain blue-eyed grass and pale blue-eyed-grass. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it is known from a part of the Cascade Mountains in Washington and Oregon.