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Ranunculus recurvatus Poir.

Hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort

KingdomPlantaePlants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
SubkingdomTracheobiontaVascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
DivisionMagnoliophytaFlowering plants, also known as angiosperms
ClassMagnoliopsidaDicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
SubclassMagnoliidaeIncludes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
OrderRanunculalesBasal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots”
FamilyRanunculaceaeButtercup family
GenusRanunculusFrom Latin rana, “little frog,” because many species grow in moist places
SpeciesrecurvatusFrom Latin recurvata, curved backwards

About plant names...

This species prefers partial shade, and reasonably fertile, damp soil, such as woods, edges of swamps, or floodplains. It is native to most of North America.

See also Ranunculus recurvatus, with similar-appearing flowers but different leaves. They appear in woods, fields, and meadows.

Plants: 6-24″ (15-60 cm) in height, with erect, hairy, branched stems.

Leaves: Lower leaves are ½-4″ (1.3-10 cm), alternate, lobed and deeply divided into 3 or 5 parts. Upper leaves are similar, becoming smaller and thinner. Leaves are medium to dark green and hairless, and leaf tips are coarsely toothed or crenate.

Flowers: Modest-looking yellow flowers appear in haphazard-looking clusters of 2-16, on bare individual stalks at stem tips. Each flower is about ¼″ (7.6 mm) around. If you look closely at the flower, there are 5-6 yellow petals, five yellowish-green sepals, and a ring of about 20 stamens around a bright green center. Flowers appear May-Jun.

Fruits: Each flower expands into a rounded seed head ~1/16″ (1.6-2.2 mm) around, a dense cluster of seeds, each with a tiny velco-like hook, the source of the common name crowfoot. The seeds blacken as they mature.

 

Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/14/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) ID is uncertain

Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/25/2023 · Maquoit Bay Conservation Land, Brunswick, Maine

Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 14 × 9″ (35 × 23 cm)

Here are some similar-looking species:

 
Ranunculus abortivus
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Ranunculus recurvatus
Common Name

kidney-leaved buttercup

hooked crowfoot
Plant Up to 2′ (60 cm) in height. 6-24″ (15-60 cm) in height, with erect, hairy, branched stems.
Flowers Yellow star-shaped flowers in groups of 1-3, on individual stalks at stem tips. Each flower is ¼″ (6.3 mm) around. Appear Apr-Jul. Haphazard-looking clusters of 2-16 yellow flowers, on bare individual stalks at stem tips. Each flower is about ¼″ (7.6 mm) around. Flowers appear May-Jun.
Leaves Lower leaves are ½-4″ (1.3-10 cm), and reniform (kidney-shaped), round, or heart-shaped with crenate edges. Upper leaves are alternate, hairless, lanceolate, oblanceolate, or oblong, with smooth edges, deeply and multiply-divided, up to 1½″ (3.8 cm) long and sessile. Lower leaves are ½-4″ (1.3-10 cm), alternate, lobed and deeply divided into 3 or 5 parts. Upper leaves are similar, becoming smaller and thinner. Leaves are medium to dark green and hairless, and leaf tips are coarsely toothed or crenate.
Fruit Fruits are insignificant, 1/32-1/16″ (1.4-1.6 mm) in size, ripening to shiny brown. Each flower expands into a rounded seed head ~1/16″ (1.6-2.2 mm) around, a dense cluster of seeds, each with a tiny velco-like hook, hence the name crowfoot. The seeds blacken as they mature.
Range/ Zones

Habitats Woods, meadows, fields, and clearings. Woods, edges of swamps, or floodplains.
Type Wild Wild

 

Online References:

Missouriplants.com

Illinois Wildflowers

Ontario Wildflowers

Minnesota Wildflowers

Gobotany.newenglandwild.org

References:

Clemants, Steven; Gracie, Carol, Wildflowers in the Field and Forest, Oxford University Press, 2006, p. 216

Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm)

Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/14/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hamp­shire · ≈ 7 × 4½″ (18 × 12 cm) ID is uncertain

 

Ranunculus recurvatus description by Thomas H. Kent, last updated 17 Oct 2023.

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Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/25/2023 · Maquoit Bay Conservation Land, Brunswick, Maine

Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/25/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm)

Ranunculus recurvatus (hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort)

5/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Pepperell, Mass­a­chu­setts · ≈ 12 × 8″ (31 × 20 cm)

Range:

About this map...