Difference between revisions of "Ranunculus occidentalis"

From Puget Prairie Plants
(Uses)
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===Bloom Period===
 
===Bloom Period===
April-June, right before and among the Camas.<ref name=":0">Bowcutt, F., & Hamman, Sarah. (2016). ''Vascular plants
+
April-June, right before and among the Camas.<ref name=":0">Bowcutt, F., & Hamman, Sarah. (2016). ''Vascular plants''
of the South Sound prairies'' (First ed.). Olympia, Washington: The Evergreen
+
of the South Sound prairies'' (First ed.). Olympia, Washington: The Evergreen''
 
State College Press.</ref>
 
State College Press.</ref>
  
 
===Distribution===
 
===Distribution===
 
West of the Cascades, Alaska to California, and east to the Blue mountains in Oregon.   
 
West of the Cascades, Alaska to California, and east to the Blue mountains in Oregon.   
[[File:RAOC distribution.png|200px|thumb|right|''Ranunculus occidentalis'' distribution]]
 
 
 
===Habitat===
 
===Habitat===
 
Moist to well-drained soil, meadows and open woods, mostly west Cascades, Alaska to California, east to Alberta and northeast Oregon.
 
Moist to well-drained soil, meadows and open woods, mostly west Cascades, Alaska to California, east to Alberta and northeast Oregon.

Revision as of 10:47, 9 May 2020

Common name: Western buttercup

Abbreviation Code (Codon): RAOC

" | Ranunculus occidentalis
Ranunculus occidentalis
Ranunculus occidentalis
" | Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta
Phylum: Spermatophyta
Subphylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Magnoliidae
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Ranunculus
Species: Ranunculus occidentalis Nutt.

Description

General: Stiff-hairy perennial from slender fibrous roots, the 1-several stems erect, usually hollow, freely branched, 1.5-4 dm. tall.

Leaves: Basal leaves long-petiolate, the blades 2-3.5 cm. long, deeply 3-lobed, the lobes with coarse, rounded teeth; cauline leaves alternate, more deeply dissected, reduced upward to the entire bracts.

Flowers: Pedicels single-flowered, up to 10 cm. long; sepals 5, greenish or pinkish-tinged, spreading but sharply reflexed at mid-length, hairy, early-deciduous; petals 5, yellow, oblong, 9-12 mm. long and nearly half as broad; nectary scale broadly wedge-shaped, 1 mm. long, the lateral margins free ¾ their length; receptacle ovoid; stamens 30-60; pistils 10-20.


Bloom Period

April-June, right before and among the Camas.[1]

Distribution

West of the Cascades, Alaska to California, and east to the Blue mountains in Oregon.

Habitat

Moist to well-drained soil, meadows and open woods, mostly west Cascades, Alaska to California, east to Alberta and northeast Oregon.

Uses

Ecological: Adult Mardon Skippers (Polites mardon) feed on the nectar of R. occidentalis, among other flowers. [1]

First Nations: The juice from the flowers used as a poison. Seeds cooked and used as piñole either on their own or mixed with other seeds. The seed must be parched in order to remove an acrid principle.[2]

Propagation

Seed

Ranunculus occidentalis

Seed sample from: 2011

Average Measurement: 3.5 x 2.6 x 1

Measurement Range: L: 3 - 4, W: 2 - 3, D: 0.75 - 1.25

Features

Shape: Seed surface is rounded, tapering off to a style that is opposite hilum, but off centered from it.

Additional structures: Style generally 1 – 2 mm long.

Color: Seeds are brown, tending toward a lighter brown or tan at edges of seed surface.

Surface: Seeds are papillose with some small ridges around the surface edges.

Latitudinal Cross Section: elliptical RAOC latitudinal.png

Longitudinal Cross Section: elliptical RAOC-logitudinal.png


Basic Explanations and Assumptions:

The dimensions for the seeds are length x width x depth. The location of the hilum is used as the base of the seed, and the length is measured from hilum to the opposite apex. Where a style is present, the length is measured from the hilum to the bottom of the style. Width is measured at a right angle to the length at the widest part. Depth is measured at a right angle to the intersection of height and width lines.

Measurements included are the mean average for each measurement of ten separate seeds.

All measurements in millimeters unless otherwise noted.

Photo Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Bowcutt, F., & Hamman, Sarah. (2016). Vascular plants of the South Sound prairies (First ed.). Olympia, Washington: The Evergreen State College Press.
  2. Native American Ethnobotany Database. Retrieved from http://naeb.brit.org/uses/search/?string=ranunculus+occidentalis