Ranunculus rhomboideus

           
Prairie Buttercup

Cauline Leaf Bottom

Moosomin Regional Park
23-Apr-2005

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Rhomboideus: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species.  
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terrestrial plants; NOT [aquatic or creeping mud plants]

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plants NOT stoloniferous, plants NOT creeping

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stems erect

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plants generally less than 1.5 dm tall

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plants hairy; NOT [glabrous or nearly so]

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leaves NOT finely dissected

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leaves all, or in part, deeply lobed to compound; NOT [entire or merely toothed]

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basal and cauline leaves distinctly unlike, some or all of the basal leaves merely toothed (or entire), most of the cauline deeply cleft and sessile or subsessile; NOT [basal and cauline leaves all deeply incised or divided into distinct segments, the cauline smaller or with fewer segments, or with shorter petioles]

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basal leaves deltoid-ovate in outline; NOT reniform in outline; NOT [elliptic to linear]

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basal leaves acute to rounded at base; NOT more or less cordate at base

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basal leaves crenate or lobed to almost halfway; basal leaves NOT [lobed almost to the base, or divided]

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early flowering species

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sepals usually 5; NOT 3

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sepals long-villose

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petals 5-9 mm long; NOT 1.5-3 mm long, NOT 6-15 mm long

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petals longer and wider than the sepals

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petals yellow; NOT [white, sometimes yellowish at base]

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achenes in a globose head; NOT in a cylindrical head

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achenes glabrous

 
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Ranunculus: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this genus.
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plants NOT woody

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plants NOT climbing

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both basal and cauline leaves usually present; leaves NOT all basal

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cauline leaves NOT opposite

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flowers regular

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sepals NOT spurred

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petals usually present

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petals NOT spurred

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petals mostly yellow

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carpels 2 or more

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ovaries 1-ovuled

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fruit an achene; NOT a follicle, NOT a dry pod, NOT berry-like

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achenes in globose or cylindrical heads; NOT [in elongate, tapering heads]

 

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Ranunculaceae: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora leading to this family.  
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herbs; NOT shrubs, NOT trees

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plants NOT with colored milky juice

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plants with more than one normal leaf

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plants terrestrial or semi-aquatic; leaves NOT submerged, leaves NOT floating

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some or all leaves alternate

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leaves WITHOUT stipules

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flowers with two floral rings, and with each petal distinct from the others

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calyx regular, all sepals the same size

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stamens usually more than 10

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carpels separate; NOT united