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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE BUTTERCUP FAMILY | |||||||||
| The buttercup family is common in temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere. These plants are usually herbs, but may also be vines or shrubs. The stems do not have spines or prickles. The stem leaves are alternate or occasionally opposite or whorled. The leaves can be simple or compound but are at least lobed in the majority of species. The margins may be entire or toothed. The flowers are in several different types of clusters, from solitary flowers to branched, unbranched or umbrella-like groups. The flowers are commonly lacking petals and have coloured sepals. One to several whorls of bracts may be present below the flowers. The ovary consists of several separate carpels which mature to form an aggregate fruit or berry. The aggregates may be of pods or of single-seeded fruits that resemble seeds. | |||||||||
| HEARTLEAF BUTTERCUP | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Ranunculus cardiophyllus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Heartleaf buttercup grows as tall as 50 cm from cylindrical roots. The basal leaves are entire or occasionally may be slightly lobed. The stem leaves are short-stalked or stalkless and are deeply divided with linear divisions. The flowers are solitary to few per stem. The flower has a central receptacle to which all of the carpels are attached. The receptacle elongates in fruit and becomes cylindrical in shape. The flowers are yellow and have five sepals and petals and numerous stamens. The one-seeded fruits are finely grey-hairy. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Heartleaf buttercup grows in open upland fescue grasslands, grassy ravine slopes, and open aspen woods. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southwestern Saskatchewan in the Cypress Upland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Heartleaf buttercup is vulnerable because it is rare in Saskatchewan and is limited to the Cypress Hills region of the province. Most local populations are small and possible threats have been identified for this species. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY HEARTLEAF BUTTERCUP | |||||||||
| * Are the basal leaves and stem leaves different? * Are the fruits on elongated receptacles * Are the fruits finely grey-hairy? * Did you find it in southwestern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found heartleaf buttercup! |
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