Ranunculus occidentalis

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Ranunculus occidentalis
Ranunculus occidentalis 39003.JPG
R. occidentalis in Anacortes, Washington
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Ranunculus
Species:
R. occidentalis
Binomial name
Ranunculus occidentalis

Ranunculus occidentalis, the western buttercup, [1] is a species of buttercup found in the western regions of North America. Its distribution extends from Alaska through British Columbia and Alberta to central California. [1] The flower can be seen in open meadows, forests, and other generally flat areas up to an elevation of 2,200 metres (7,200 ft). [2]

Aleut first nations may have used juice from the plant as a poison, [3] its toxicity arising from the substance protoanemonin. [4] Shasta first nations coincided blooming Ranunculus occidentalis with salmon runs in the summer. [5] The seeds were used to make pinole, a staple food. [6]

This plant is similar to, and sometimes difficult to distinguish from, the California buttercup ( Ranunculus californicus ).

Related Research Articles

<i>Ranunculus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.

<i>Ranunculus californicus</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus californicus, commonly known as the California buttercup, is a flowering plant of the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It is a native of California, where it is common in many habitats, including chaparral and woodlands.

<i>Ranunculus acris</i> Species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae

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.

<i>Ranunculus glaberrimus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus glaberrimus, the sagebrush buttercup, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. It is native to interior western North America, in western Canada, the western United States, and the northwestern Great Plains.

<i>Ceratocephala testiculata</i> Species of flowering plant

Ceratocephala testiculata is a flowering plant that is native to Eurasia. Common names include bur buttercup and curveseed butterwort. It is very small, usually only about an inch or two tall, but potentially growing to four inches. The flowers are small and dull yellow. The leaves are hairy and somewhat dissected. It produces a cluster of hard, spiny fruits. Like other members of the buttercup family, they are poisonous. Where they are present in large numbers, it is usually an indication of excessive disturbance to the land.

<i>Ranunculus sceleratus</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus sceleratus known by the common names celery-leaved buttercup, celery-leaf buttercup, and cursed buttercup is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere, native to temperate and boreal North America and Eurasia, where it grows in wet and moist habitats, including ponds and streambanks.

<i>Ranunculus arvensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus arvensis, the corn buttercup or field buttercup, is a plant species in the family Ranunculaceae. Native to Europe, it can be found on other continents as an introduced species and sometimes a weed, including in North America and Australia. It was formerly a common annual arable weed in Britain, but is now rare there. It is most often found in moist places, such as spring puddles in meadows.

<i>Kumlienia</i> Small genus of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae

Kumlienia is a small genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family known generally as false buttercups. There are two species in this genus, both of which were formerly included in Ranunculus. Kumlienia cooleyae is native to the northwestern Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to Washington. Kumlienia hystricula is endemic to the Sierra Nevada of California. These perennial herbs produce a basal rosette of leaves on a caudex and erect inflorescences of a few yellow or white buttercup flowers.

<i>Ranunculus alismifolius</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus alismifolius is a species of buttercup known by the common name plantainleaf buttercup. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California to Colorado, where it grows in moist mountain habitat such as meadows, streambanks, and bogs, becoming common to abundant in some places. It is somewhat variable in appearance and there are several varieties which can be hard to tell apart. In general the plant is a perennial herb producing a few usually upright to erect, branching stems from a fleshy, fibrous root system. It can be up to half a meter tall, or it can remain quite short and clumpy. The leaves vary in shape, the lower ones with oval blades and the upper linear to lance-shaped, all borne on long petioles. The inflorescence bears one or more flowers, each on a long pedicel. The flower has up to 12 yellow petals and many yellow stamens and pistils at the center. The fruit is an achene, borne in a spherical cluster of 12 or more.

<i>Ranunculus bonariensis</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus bonariensis is a species of buttercup known by the common name Carter's buttercup. There are three varieties. Two are native to Chile and Argentina, and one is found in central California in the United States.

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.

<i>Ranunculus eschscholtzii</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus eschscholtzii is a species of buttercup flower known by the common name Eschscholtz's buttercup.

Ranunculus gormanii is a species of buttercup known by the common name Gorman's buttercup. It is native to Oregon and northern California, where it grows in the Klamath Mountains and a section of the southern Cascade Range. It can be found in moist areas in mountain forests and meadows. It is a perennial herb producing prostrate stems which extend along the ground up to 20 centimeters in length, sometimes rooting at nodes that come in contact with wet substrate. The leaves have oval blades up to 4 centimeters wide which are borne on petioles up to 7 centimeters in length. Flowers have 5 to 7 shiny yellow petals each a few millimeters long and many stamens and pistils. The fruit is an achene borne in a spherical cluster of up to 15.

<i>Ranunculus hebecarpus</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus hebecarpus is a species of buttercup known by the common name delicate buttercup. It is native to western North America, including several of the western United States and Baja California, where it grows in grassland, woodland, and chaparral habitat. It is an annual herb producing a slender, hairy stem a few centimeters high or up to 30 centimeters tall. The hairy leaves are borne on long petioles. Their blades are deeply lobed or divided into three leaflets, often with toothed or lobed edges. Flowers have 3 to 5 tiny yellow petals just 1 or 2 millimeters long studded on the bulbous nectary; some flowers lack petals. The plant is most easily identified in its fruiting stage, when the infructescence is a spherical cluster of several tiny disc-shaped achenes with compressed, bristly sides.

<i>Ranunculus hydrocharoides</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus hydrocharoides is a species of buttercup known by the common names frogbit buttercup, or frog's-bit buttercup. It is native to western North America, including the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is also known from Guatemala. It is aquatic or semi-aquatic, growing floating in water or in wet land near water. Typical habitat includes marshes, streams, and lakes. Stems are up to 25 centimeters long, prostrate on the ground when terrestrial, or floating when aquatic. The shiny green leaves have heart-shaped or oval blades up to 3 centimeters long which are borne on petioles which may be 15 centimeters in length. Flowers have 5 to 8 shiny yellow petals a few millimeters long with many stamens and pistils at the center. The fruit is an achene borne in a spherical cluster of 9 or more.

Ranunculus lobbii is a species of buttercup known by the common name Lobb's buttercup, or Lobb's aquatic buttercup. It is native to a few areas in western North America, where it is reported from British Columbia, Oregon, and northern California. It is an aquatic plant, growing in various types of shallow-water habitat, including forest ponds and vernal pools. It is an annual herb producing submerged stems 20 to 80 centimeters long which may float at the surface. The blades of the leaves are tiny and divided into threadlike segments. If any leaves develop on stem parts which are exposed to air they are much different in morphology, developing larger, more robust leaves. Flowers have generally 5 petals which are white in color and about half a centimeter long. Many stamens and pistils fill the center of the flower. The fruit is an achene borne in a spherical cluster.

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.

<i>Ranunculus pusillus</i> Species of flowering plant

Ranunculus pusillus, commonly called low spearwort, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is native to much of the eastern United States from New York to Florida and west to Texas; it is also known in California. It grows in wet habitat, where it is semi-aquatic growing partially submerged or terrestrially on muddy substrates.

<i>Ranunculus sardous</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus sardous is a species of buttercup known by the common name hairy buttercup. It is native to Europe and it can be found in many other areas of the world, including parts of the United States and Australia, as an introduced species and a roadside and lawn weed. It grows in many types of disturbed habitat, especially in moist areas. It is an annual or biennial herb producing a mostly erect, hairy stem up to half a meter tall. The hairy leaves are usually divided into three leaflets which are borne on petioles a few centimeters in length. The flower has usually five yellow petals each up to a centimeter long and five reflexed sepals. The fruit is an achene borne in a spherical cluster of up to 35.

<i>Ranunculus uncinatus</i> Species of buttercup

Ranunculus uncinatus is a species of buttercup known by the common names woodland buttercup and little buttercup. It is native to western North America from Alaska to California to New Mexico, where it grows in wet, wooded habitat such as forest streambanks.

References

  1. 1 2 USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Ranunculus occidentalis". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  2. "Jepson Manual Treatment for Ranunculus occidentalis". University of California Berkeley Jepson Treatments. Retrieved 2009-06-05.
  3. Flora of North America
  4. Bank, Theodore (1953). "Botanical and ethnobotanical studies in the Aleutian Islands - Health and Medical Lore …". Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters: 428.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. Holt, Catharine (1946). "Shasta Ethnography". University of California, Berkeley: 310.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. Ethnobotany