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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. | |||||||||
| LARGE NODDING BUTTERCUP | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Ranunculus hyperboreus var. hyperboreus | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Large nodding buttercup grows in or near the water. The stems often have fibrous roots at the nodes. The stem leaves are kidney-shaped to fan-shaped and are deeply three-lobed. The two side lobes are further divided into two. The flowers are solitary and yellow. The receptacle elongates in fruits forming a round head. The fruits are hairless and have linear beaks. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Large nodding buttercup grows in shallow beach pools and wet sand on lake and stream shores. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in northeastern Saskatchewan in the Athabasca Plain ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Large nodding buttercup is endangered because of extreme rarity in Saskatchewan. It is restricted to one small region of the province and most local populations are small. No immediate threats are known but may occur in the future. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY LARGE NODDING BUTTERCUP | |||||||||
| * Are the basal leaves absent? * Are the fruits hairless and on elongated receptacles? * Are the stem leaves kidney-shaped to fan-shaped? * Did you find it in northeastern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found large nodding buttercup! |
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