Ranunculus aquatilis var. aquatilis

Whitewater crowfoot

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Whitewater crowfoot is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Great Valley, central western California, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin in marshes, streams, ponds, and lakes at elevations below 2,000 meters. Flowering from February to June, this plant produces white flowers with delicate, multi-part structures. Growing with submersed stems that spread through aquatic environments, it has distinctive floating and underwater leaves. Its leaves are uniquely adapted, with floating leaves having a kidney-shaped form divided into three parts with fan-shaped or obovate segments, while underwater leaves are finely dissected into thread-like segments. The small fruits are approximately 1.6 to 2 millimeters wide with a tiny beak.

Habitat: Marshes, streams, ponds, lakes

Bloom period: Feb-Jun

Elevation: < 2000 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, GV, CW, PR, GB

California counties: Kern, Riverside, Modoc, Sonoma, Amador, Mariposa, Humboldt, Plumas, Alpine, Tuolumne, Monterey, El Dorado, Yuba, Butte, San Diego, Santa Clara, Lake, Shasta, Contra Costa, Madera, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Colusa, Tehama, Lassen, Mendocino, Siskiyou, Stanislaus, Calaveras

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