Angiosperms: Dicotyledons

Ranunculaceae
Buttercup Family

• Stem: perennial; 3’ to 5’ tall; branching in the inflorescence; smooth.
• Leaves: alternate; pinnately compound with the lower leaflets divided into threes and the upper leaflets three-lobed; blades 4” by 3” and smaller; leaf stalks 1” to 2”, hairy; leaflets smooth above and hairy below.
• Inflorescence: many tiny flowers on much-branched flower stalks from the stem tip and upper leaf axils; cone-shaped, 8” to 12” long.
• Flowers: without petals and the sepals dropping early in flowering; on male plants numerous, white stamens, 1/4” long; on female plants about ten white pistils per flower, each pistil 3/16” long with a swollen ovary near the base and a flattened stigmatic surface above; flowering from mid- to late June.
• Fruits: one-seeded; 1/8” long by 1/16” in diameter with the persistent style forming a hook at the tip, dark brown; usually remaining attached to the plant until late summer; fruiting begins in late June.
• Habitat: common in moist soils on prairies, in open woods, on roadsides, and in other open places.
• Bibliography from Biodiversity Heritage Library
• Vascular Plants of Iowa