Ranunculus hebecarpus

Delicate buttercup

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: annual · Native

Delicate buttercup is a California native annual found in northern California interior, California Ranges, Sierra Nevada Foothills, Sacramento Valley, Central Western, and Southwestern regions in grassland and open woodland at elevations of 50 to 900 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces small white to yellow flowers with 0 to 5 petals measuring approximately 1.3 to 2 millimeters wide. Growing with erect stems 8 to 30 centimeters tall, it develops from a basal root system without a bulbous base. Its distinctive basal leaves are deeply three-parted, heart-shaped, with segments measuring 0.6 to 2.3 centimeters long and up to 3.5 centimeters wide, featuring acute-tipped lobes that may be entire or have 2 to 4 smaller dentate edges. The fruit is disk-like, approximately 1.7 to 2.3 millimeters wide, with a hooked beak and surfaces covered in tiny bristled papillae.

Habitat: Grassland, open woodland

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 50-900 m

Bioregions: NCoRI, CaRF, SNF, ScV, CW, SW

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

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