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.
Common Name: BUTTERCUP Habit: Annual to perennial herb, occasionally from stolons or caudices, terrestrial or aquatic; roots generally fibrous. Stem: prostrate to erect. Leaf: basal, cauline, or both, alternate, generally reduced upward; petiole base flat, stipule-like or not; basal, proximal cauline petioles generally long; blades simple to dissected or compound, entire to toothed. Inflorescence: cyme, axillary or terminal, 1--few-flowered. Flower: sepals 3--5(6), generally early-deciduous, generally green to yellow or purple; petals 0--17[(150)], shiny, generally yellow, occasionally white or purple, nectaries near base, pocket-like or with flap-like scale; anthers yellow; pistils generally many. Fruit: achene, compressed or not, +- spheric, disk-like (width 3--15 × depth), or lenticular (width 1--2 × depth), beaked. Etymology: (Latin: diminutive of Rana, frog, from wet habitats) eFlora Treatment Author: Alan T. Whittemore
Ranunculus testiculatus Crantz
NATURALIZED Habit: Annual 1--6(10) cm, erect or ascending, not rooting at nodes. Leaf: basal, 0.9--3.8 cm, 0.5--1.5 cm wide, widely spoon-shaped, 1--2 × dissected, segments linear, margin entire, tip obtuse to acuminate; cauline leaves 0. Flower: receptacle glabrous; sepals 5, spreading, 3--6 mm, 1--2 mm wide, persistent; petals 5, 3--5 mm, 1--3 mm wide. Fruit: body 1.6--2 mm, 1.8--2 mm, ellipsoid, width +- = depth, wall thick, smooth, beak 3.5--4.5 mm, lanceolate, persistent. Ecology: Disturbed areas, especially in grassland; Elevation: 1000--2300 m. Bioregional Distribution: s SNF, Teh, SnBr, GB, DMtns; Distribution Outside California: to Ohio; native to Eurasia. Flowering Time: Apr--May Synonyms: Ceratocephala testiculata (Crantz) Besser; Ceratocephalus testiculatus (Crantz) Besser, orth. var. Jepson eFlora Author: Alan T. Whittemore Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange) Previous taxon: Ranunculus sceleratus var. sceleratus Next taxon: Ranunculus trilobus
Botanical illustration including Ranunculus testiculatus
Citation for this treatment: Alan T. Whittemore 2012, Ranunculus testiculatus, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=40840, accessed on January 23, 2025.
Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2025, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on January 23, 2025.
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(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 occurrence).
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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.
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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).
