Sagebrush buttercup Ranunculus glaberrimus

Ranunculaceae –Buttercup Family

Family ID traits:

• All floral parts all independently attached & all of an indefinite number (Primitive, ancestral)
• Multiple pistils at center of flower w/ hooked tips
• Other family with many pistils is Rose, but Rose lacks hooked tips

Habitat: Shrub-steppe & conifer forest & rocky ridges, mid- to high elevation. One of earliest spring bloomers

Growth form: Perennial forb. Growing either erect on lying on the ground, usually in small clumps.

Leaves: Mainly basal; stem leaves often 3-lobed

Stem:  single, may be branched at the top

Flowers:  shiny yellow. 5 separate petals, 1/2-inch long.  Radially symmetry, regular flower.  A large number of stamens (more that you can count)