Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Ranunculus fascicularis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Early Buttercup from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ranunculus fascicularis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Ranunculus fascicularis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Ranunculus fascicularis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3 (1997)
Ranunculus fascicularis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ranunculus fascicularis
COMMON NAME:
Early Buttercup, Thick-root Butterdup
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_rafa_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm100314_047
March Decatur County GA
Leaves mostly basal, divided into lobed and toothed segments, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm100314_051
March Decatur County GA
Leaves mostly basal, longer than wide, terminal segment stalked, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm100314_052
March Decatur County GA
)
JK Marlow jkm120403_417
April Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm120403_419
April Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm120403_421
April Henderson County NC
Holmes Educational Forest
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_r_fascicularis_n
April Floyd County GA
Little Dry Creek Natural Area
Petals longer than they are broad, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Ranunculus fascicularis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Ranunculus fascicularis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Ranunculus fascicularis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Ranunculus fascicularis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 3
Ranunculus fascicularis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Ranunculus fascicularis
3221
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Wet flats with prairie affinities (with Camassia scilloides), rocky barrens and glades over mafic rocks (such as gabbro or diabase), ultramafic outcrop barrens (over olivine), limestone barrens, prairies, oak savannas, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare, scattered and disjunct in our area
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Larger leaves: mostly pinnately 3-7-foliolate, terminal leaflet larger than lateral leaflets
Mostly basal
FLOWER:
Spring
Yellow
Radially symmetrical
3-5 sepals
5 petals, longer than the sepals
Numerous stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Aggregate of achenes
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p283
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p428
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p014
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p041
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p062
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p049
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".