Ranunculus glaberrimus var. glaberrimus
Sagebrush Buttercup

Family: Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family)

Photo taken at Yakima River Canyon, open rocky slope

Flowers:

petals 4 to 15 mm, yellow; sepals 4 to 7 mm, reflexed;

Leaves:

basal leaves 2 to 5 cm mostly ovate to obovate, sometimes broader than long, often shallowly 3 lobed; stem leaves entire or 2 to 3 lobed

Plant:

perennial; stems rarely greater than 15 cm, ascending to decumbent. Poultice of mashed whole plant applied to pains by the Okanagan-Colville. Plant considered a skin irritant by the Thompson. Whole plant used to poison coyotes by the Okanagan-Colville. Flowers or the whole plant rubbed on arrow tips as poison by the Thompson.

Habitat:

open areas, sagebrush, meadows, and grasslands to rocky soil in conifer forests, generally in well drained soil

Distribution of species:

southern British Columbia to California in the east Cascades, east to the Dakotas, Nebraska and New Mexico

Distribution of genus:

more or less 250 species: temperate worldwide and in tropical mountains