Page authors: Don Knoke, David Giblin
Ranunculus arvensis
field buttercup, hungerweed
Specimens
Photos

Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho and Utah; also in areas of central and eastern U.S.

Habitat: Dry woodlands and waste ground.

Flowers: May-June

Origin: Introduced from Europe

Growth Duration: Annual

Conservation Status: Not of concern

Pollination: Bees, flies, butterflies, beetles

Description:
General:

Stiff-hairy annual from thick fibrous roots, the stem single, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes, 1.5-4 dm. tall.

Leaves:

Basal leaves oblanceolate, 3-toothed to twice ternately divided into linear lobes; cauline leaves alternate, tri- or bi-ternately divided into linear segments.

Flowers:

Flowers solitary on slender pedicels 3-5 cm. long; sepals 5, spreading, membranous, yellowish, 3.5-6 mm. long, hairy; petals 5, yellow, 5-8 mm. long, obovate; receptacle hemispheric, hairy; nectary basal on and nearly as broad as the petal, free to the base; stamens about 10; pistils 5-8 in a globose cluster.

Fruits:

Achenes greatly compressed, nearly circular, with many spines; stylar beak stout, straight, 3 mm. long.

Accepted Name:
Ranunculus arvensis L.
Publication: Sp. Pl. 1: 555. 1753.

Synonyms & Misapplications:
Ranunculus arvensis L. var. tuberculatus DC.
Additional Resources:

PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Ranunculus arvensis in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database

WA Flora Checklist: Ranunculus arvensis checklist entry

OregonFlora: Ranunculus arvensis information

E-Flora BC: Ranunculus arvensis atlas page

CalPhotos: Ranunculus arvensis photos

32 photographs:
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