Ranunculus californicus

California buttercup

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

California buttercup is a native perennial herb found throughout California's diverse landscapes, including coastal ranges, central valley, and Sierra Nevada foothills in grasslands, woodland margins, and open meadows at elevations from 10 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from February to May, this plant produces bright yellow, glossy flowers 7 to 14 millimeters wide with multiple delicate petals. Growing 18 to 70 centimeters tall with slender, branching stems that remain upright, it forms dense clusters with intricate foliage. Its basal leaves are widely ovate, often three-lobed or deeply divided, with lower stem leaves showing complex, ternate structures that become increasingly dissected toward the plant's upper portions. Small disk-like fruits with thin curved beaks complete the buttercup's distinctive seasonal cycle.

California counties: Humboldt, Placer, San Diego, Kern, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Solano, Santa Barbara, Mendocino, Alameda, Mariposa, Madera, Riverside, Merced, San Benito, Santa Cruz, Stanislaus, Fresno, Modoc, San Bernardino, Orange, Del Norte, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Monterey, Lassen, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Ventura, Napa, Marin, Yuba, San Joaquin, El Dorado, Amador, Sacramento, Trinity, Nevada, Calaveras, Butte, Plumas, Shasta, Tehama, Siskiyou, Colusa, Tuolumne, Tulare, Lake, Sutter, Yolo

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