[Buttercups: The Genus Ranunculus East of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]
Sagebrush Buttercup, Wax Buttercup
Ranunculus glaberrimus var. glaberrimus
Synonym: Ranunculus glaberrimus var. typicus
The photo above shows sagebrush buttercup as seen from Quilomene Wildlife Area to the west of Vantage, WA.........March 29, 2007.
The photo at right shows a close-up of the flower of sagebrush
buttercup (R. glaberrimus var. glaberrimus) as seen on BLM lands in Cowiche Canyon, to the west of Yakima, WA.............March 28, 2007.
Characteristics:
Sagebrush buttercup is a perennial with several erect to prostrate
stems. The stems are 5-20 cm long and may be simple to branched above. The
leaves are mainly basal. The blades are somewhat fleshy, elliptic to obovate
(sometimes nearly round) in shape with margins ranging from entire to deeply
3-lobed at the distal end. The leaf blade tapers gradually to the petiole
which may be as long as to several times longer than the blade. One to several
stem leaves may be present.
The flowers are shiny yellow, with 5 petals 8-15 mm long. The 5
sepals are spreading, and purplish-tinged, 5-8 mm long. 40-80 stamens occupy the
centeral of the floral disk.
This is an attractive, large-flowered buttercup that would be attractive in the wild prairie garden. I don't believe that anyone offers this plant at wildflower nurseries at this time.
Habitat:
Sagebrush buttercup is found in ponderosa pine woodlands and
in the sagebrush desert. Variety ellipticus is primarily montane, while
variety glaberrimus is a plant of lower elevation.
Range:
Sagebrush buttercup is a widespread species, found from British
Columbia south along the eastern edge of the Cascades and Sierra Nevada Mts.
to central California, and eastward across Oregon and Washington to the Dakotas, and south to New Mexico.
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The photo at left shows sage-brush buttercup as seen along the Deschutes River Access Road several miles below Sherar's Bridge in north-central Oregon..........March 24, 2007. The photo at right shows sagebrush buttercup as observed on scablands along Forest Road 4240 about a mile and one-half south of Lame Dog Creek, Ochoco National Forest or BLM lands just north of the North Fork Crooked River.......April 26, 2018.
The photo at right shows a close-up of the underside of the flower of sagebrush buttercup (R. glaberrimus var. glaberrimus) as seen on BLM lands in Cowiche Canyon, to the west of Yakima, WA.............March 28, 2007. Note the brownish (although usually greenish) sepals.
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Sagebrush buttercups blooming along Oregon Highway 218 about one mile south of Shaniko, Oregon..........March 10, 2015.
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Sagebrush buttercups blooming on rocky rims at the edges of scablands near FS Road 4230-050 south of Long Prairie, Ochoco National Forest........April 30, 2016.
Ranunculus glaberrimus var. ellipticus from Winter Ridge, Fremont N.F.......May 26, 1996.
The photo above shows a close-up of the flower of sagebrush buttercup as seen from open woods near Hog Lake, to the east of Sprague, WA..........April 29, 2006.
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The photo at left shows sagebrush buttercup (R. glaberrimus var. glaberrimus)
as seen along the Vantage Highway west of Vantage, WA, in the Quilomene Wildlife Area.........May 29, 2007. The photo at right shows sagebrush buttercup blooming along Forest Road 2630 about a half mile uphill to the northwest of Scotts Campground, Ochoco National Forest.........May 10, 2017.
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Sagebrush buttercup (R. glaberrimus var. glaberrimus) as seen along the Line Butte Trail #807 about a quarter mile uphill from the Fawn Creek Trailhead on the southeastern corner of Lookout Mountain, Ochoco National Forest.........May 22, 2017.
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The photo at left shows a close-up two flowers of sagebrush buttercup (R. glaberrimus var. glaberrimus) as seen on BLM lands in Cowiche Canyon, to the west of Yakima, WA.........March 28, 2007. The photo at right shows sagebrush buttercup blooming at the eastern base of Spanish Peak, Ochoco National Forest.......June 17, 2019.
Sagebrush buttercups in bloom along the Pallisades Trail several miles downstream from the park campground, Cottonwood Canyon State Park......March 22, 2019.
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Sagebrush buttercup as seen
along the Round Mountain South Trail #805 near the summit of Round Mt., Ochoco National Forest.........May 28, 2016.
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Sagebrush buttercup as seen on scablands atop Lookout Mountain, Ochoco National Forest.........May 29, 2016. This looks somewhat like var. ellipticus, but some of the leaves have 3 shallow lobes at the tip.
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Sagebrush buttercup blooming on balds along Box Spring Road (the main east-west access road through the eastern Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area).........April 11, 2017.
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Sagebrush buttercup blooming on the northern slopes of Tumwater Butte, Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area......April 1, 2022.
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Sagebrush buttercup (this may be var. ellipticus?) as seen at left along Trail #201 just west of its junction with Trail #368, Strawberry Mountain Wilderness..........July 1, 2010. The photo at right shows sagebrush buttercup (var. glagerrimus) on scabland soils at the Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.......April 20, 2018.
Paul Slichter