Ranunculus cardiophyllus

           
Heart-leaved Buttercup

Flower Side

West Block, Cypress Hills
01-June-00

Note that the key to the species in Flora of Alberta requires all of:

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petals 3-5 mm long; NOT 1.5-3 mm long

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petals 8-15 mm long; NOT 3-8 mm long

In fact, the petals are 8-15 mm long.

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Cardiophyllus: Answers to key questions in Budd's Flora and Flora of Alberta leading to this species.  
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terrestrial plants, mostly with erect stems; NOT [aquatic or creeping mud plants, the leaves mostly floating or submersed]

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plants NOT [with stolons or runners]

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plants generally more than 1.5 dm tall

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stems and leaves pilose-pubescent or villose; NOT [stems and leaves subglabrous or puberulent]

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leaves NOT finely dissected

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leaves all, or in part, deeply lobed to compound; NOT [leaves 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 few segment, or with shorter petioles]

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basal leaves ovate to rhomboid, reniform, entire to compound; NOT [basal leaves elliptic to linear, not deeply divided]

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basal leaves crenate or lobed to almost halfway; NOT [basal leaves deeply 3-parted or lobed almost to base]

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plants NOT very early flowering

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flowering stalks stout, elongated; NOT [flowering stalks slender, often shorter than the conspicuous upper leaves]

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sepals usually 5; NOT 3

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petals longer and wider than the sepals; NOT [shorter and narrower than the sepals]

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petals 8-15 mm long; NOT 1.5-8 mm long

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

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nectary scales ciliate; NOT glabrous

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achenes in a cylindrical head; NOT in a globose head

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achenes pubescent; NOT 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