Ranunculus abortivus
Kidney-Leaf Buttercup
NATIVE
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Basal rosette kidney-shaped leaves; upper stem leaves more eliptical with smooth margins
Credit: Kristie Gianopulos. Used with permission.
FIELD ID CHARACTERISTICS:
Leaf blades usually scalloped and wider than long.
Description: Low herb with tall, often branching flowering stems.
Leaves: Distinctive basal leaves with long petioles and generally kidney-shaped blades about 2.5 cm wide; linear, widely-spaced leaves on flowering stems.
Flowers/Fruit: Flowering stems up to 0.5 m tall above basal leaves. Tiny yellow flowers with greenish centers later mature to green seedheads. Blooms March to June; fruits soon after flowering.
Habit and Range: Moist to wet soils in partly sunny areas of floodplains, bottomlands, swamp margins, and other low ground, even on roadsides; common over most of the state except the Coastal Plain.
Typical Max Plant Height (m):
0.5
Leaf Arrangement:
Basal
Leaf Division:
Simple
Leaf Margin:
Crenate
Leaf Shape:
Obovate,
Heart-shaped,
Lance-shaped (Lanceolate),
Linear
Inflorescence Color:
Yellow,
Green
Fruit Color:
Green
Lifespan:
Perennial
Group:
Dicot
Family:
Ranunculaceae / Buttercup
Ecoregions Found In:
Statewide
