[Buttercups: The Genus Ranunculus in Mt. Adams Country]
Sagebrush Buttercup
Ranunculus glaberrimus var. glaberrimus
Synonym: Ranunculus glaberrimus var. typicus
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The photos above show views of sagebrush buttercup as seen in a vernally moist creek bed running through ponderosa pine forest near the western edge of the Klickitat Canyon NRCA at the southeastern base of Mt. Adams.........April 27, 2008.
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.
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 to the Dakotas, and south to New Mexico.
The photo above 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.
This photo 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.
The photo above shows sagebrush buttercup as seen from Quilomene Wildlife Area to the west of Vantage, WA...........March 29, 2007.
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.
This photo shows a sagebrush buttercup along the Vantage Highway west of Vantage, WA, in the Quilomene Wildlife Area.........May 29, 2007.
This photo shows a close-up of 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.
Paul Slichter