Ranunculus uncinatus

Hook seeded buttercup

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Hook seeded buttercup is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, central coastal California, the Cascade Range, northern and central Sierra Nevada, Modoc Plateau, and San Bernardin Mountains in moist meadows and woodlands, generally along streams at elevations up to 2,800 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces yellow flowers with 5 delicate petals 2 to 4 millimeters long. Growing 15 to 60 centimeters tall with erect stems that do not root at the nodes, it develops from an upright base. Its distinctive leaves are heart-shaped to kidney-shaped, divided into three parts with lobed segments that have elliptic to lance-shaped edges with toothed margins. The fruit features a unique curved, hooked beak that gives the buttercup its distinctive "hook seeded" name.

Habitat: Moist meadows or woodland, generally along streams

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 2800 m

Bioregions: NW, CCo, CaR, n&ampc SNH, MP, SnBr

California counties: Humboldt, Calaveras, Lake, San Bernardino, Tuolumne, Del Norte, Santa Cruz, Modoc, Siskiyou, Inyo, Tulare, Nevada, Fresno, Trinity, Napa, Marin, Lassen, Madera, Butte, Tehama, Mendocino, Placer, Plumas, Glenn, Alpine, San Diego, Shasta, San Mateo, Sonoma, El Dorado, Sierra, Mariposa, Amador, Monterey

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