Early buttercup

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Early buttercup sepals

Early buttercup leaves

Early buttercup leaf

Early buttercup

Early buttercup

Early buttercup flower

Early buttercup flower

Early buttercup leaves

Early buttercup

Morphology

Stem

Erect to ascending, single or in tufts, simple or little-branched, grey or whitish hairy below.

Leaves

Basal leaves on stalks 1 to 4 inches long, pinnately 3- to 5-parted or some merely 3-lobed, ovate in outline, .6 to 2.2 inches long, .4 to 1.6 inch wide; leaf segments linear to oblong, entire or shallowly toothed or often 3-cleft; most ultimate segments narrow, linear to oblong, entire or shallowly lobed, stalked; tip blunt or rounded; stem leaves reduced when present, segments 1-3, narrow.

Inflorescence

Cluster, sparse, 1- to 4-flowered, terminal.

Flower

Sepals 5, ovate, 1/4 to 1/3 inch long, greenish-yellow, spreading, appressed-hairy; petals 5, elliptic to oblong, 1/3 to 2/3 inch long, yellow; stamens usually 40-60.

Fruit

Achenes, nearly circular, less than 1/8 inch long, smooth, 10-35 in spherical head.

Ecology

Habitat

Prairies and dry woods.

Distribution

East 1/4 of Kansas.