Buttercups

Genus Ranunculus
Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)

Buttercups (Ranunculus spp.) Buttercups show several of the same primitive characteristics as the earliest fossil flowering plants. That is, they have many separate pistils on a mound in the center of the flower. This mound is surrounded by many stamens.

Some species of buttercups that may be found in Utah are:
  Snow Buttercup (Ranunculus adoneus)
  Rocky Mountain Buttercup (Ranunculus cymbalaria)
  Sagebrush Buttercup (Ranunculus jovis)
  Macoun Buttercup (Ranunculus macounii)
  Alpine Buttercup (Ranunculus eschscholtzii)
  Bur Buttercup (Ranunculus testiculatus)

Our common buttercups typically have five very shiny yellow petals and five sepals surrounding the mound of pistils and stamens in the center.

Wasatch Mountains
Salt Lake County, Utah

References

Photographed
by Sandra Bray