Jepson eFlora: Taxon page
Vascular Plants of California
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Caltha palustris


Higher Taxonomy
Family: RanunculaceaeView DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: BUTTERCUP FAMILY
Habit: Annual, perennial herb, woody vine [shrub], occasionally aquatic. Leaf: generally basal and cauline, alternate or opposite, simple or compound; petioles at base generally flat, occasionally sheathing or stipule-like. Inflorescence: cyme, raceme, panicle, or flowers 1. Flower: generally bisexual, generally radial; sepals 3--6(20), free, early-deciduous or withering in fruit, generally green; petals 0--many, generally free; stamens generally 5--many, staminodes generally 0; pistils 1--many, ovary superior, chamber 1, style 0--1, generally +- persistent as beak, ovules 1--many. Fruit: achene, follicle, berry, +- utricle in Trautvetteria, in aggregate or not, 1--many-seeded.
Genera In Family: +- 60 genera, 1700 species: worldwide, especially northern temperate, tropical mountains; many ornamental (Adonis, Aquilegia, Clematis, Consolida, Delphinium, Helleborus, Nigella). Toxicity: some highly TOXIC (Aconitum, Actaea, Delphinium, Ranunculus). Note: Taxa of Isopyrum in TJM (1993) moved to Enemion; Kumlienia moved to Ranunculus.
eFlora Treatment Author: Margriet Wetherwax & Dieter H. Wilken, family description, key to genera
Scientific Editor: Douglas H. Goldman, Bruce G. Baldwin.
Genus: CalthaView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: MARSH MARIGOLD
Habit: Perennial herb from short caudex [long, slender stolons], generally fleshy, glabrous. Stem: 1--few. Leaf: simple, oblong-ovate to spheric-reniform or cordate, crenate to dentate [entire]; basal petioles > blades. Inflorescence: cyme or flowers 1, terminal or axillary, bracts leaf-like. Flower: sepals 5--12, petal-like, white to yellow; petals 0; pistils 5--many, ovules. Fruit: follicle, sessile to short-stalked, generally beaked. Seed: brown, wrinkled.
Etymology: (Greek: ancient name, from bowl-shaped flower)
eFlora Treatment Author: Bruce A. Ford
Caltha palustris L.
NATURALIZED
Habit: Plant 10--70(80) cm. Leaf: petiole 3--50 cm, > blade; blade 2--20 cm wide, entire, crenate, or dentate. Inflorescence: peduncle generally > leaves, 1--7-flowered. Flower: sepals 4--9, elliptic to obovate. Fruit: 6--16, 12--20 mm; beak straight or +- curved.
Ecology: Roadside bogs, edges of marshes, swamps, lakes, streams; Elevation: 900--3300 m. Bioregional Distribution: NCo, NCoR, CCo; Distribution Outside California: Oregon to Alaska, Alberta to Ontario, North Carolina. Flowering Time: Apr--Jul
Jepson eFlora Author: Bruce A. Ford
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Caltha leptosepala
Next taxon: Clematis

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Citation for this treatment: Bruce A. Ford 2012, Caltha palustris, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=16802, accessed on April 18, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on April 18, 2024.

Caltha palustris
click for enlargement
©2016 Keir Morse
Caltha palustris
click for enlargement
©2016 Keir Morse
Caltha palustris
click for enlargement
©2016 Keir Morse
Caltha palustris
click for enlargement
©2016 Keir Morse
Caltha palustris
click for enlargement
©2016 Keir Morse

More photos of Caltha palustris
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Geographic subdivisions for Caltha palustris:
NCo, NCoR, CCo
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map of distribution 1
(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurence).





 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.
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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
Yellow markers indicate records that may provide evidence for eFlora range revision or may have georeferencing or identification issues.
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CCH collections by month

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).