Ranunculus aquatilis

Whitewater crowfoot

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Whitewater crowfoot is a California native perennial aquatic herb found in various wetland habitats, creeping through water or mud at low to moderate elevations. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white flowers with yellow claws, 4 to 7 millimeters long, arising from bristly receptacles. Growing with slender stems 20 to 80 centimeters long that root at the nodes, it forms delicate underwater or partially floating vegetation. Its submersed leaves are intricately dissected into 3 to 6 segments, with tapered stipules that unite along the stem. When mature, the plant develops multiple small, lenticular fruits with thick, transversely wrinkled walls and persistent thread-like beaks.

California counties: Shasta, Sonoma, Plumas, San Bernardino, Riverside, Mono, Madera, Modoc, Alpine, Tulare, Nevada, Lake, San Diego, Sierra, Mariposa, Lassen, Inyo, Tuolumne, Fresno, Marin, Merced, Alameda, Contra Costa, Siskiyou, Calaveras, San Benito, Mendocino, Yuba, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, Kern, Monterey, Butte, Los Angeles, Tehama, Napa, Amador, El Dorado, Colusa, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.