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• Aquatic plants
• Water plants with leaves and stems
• Ranunculus aquatilis

Ranunculus aquatilis — white water buttercup, white water crowfoot

Facts

White water crowfoot has two types of leaves, finely divided underwater leaves and floating or emersed leaves. Sometimes only the submersed leaves are present, sometimes the plant forms mats on the water surface.

Habitat

Lacustrine (in lakes or ponds), riverine (in rivers or streams)

Characteristics

• Clonal plantlets

  Turion length

  0 mm

• Flowers

  Anther color

  there is a noticeable pink, reddish or purplish tint to the anthers

  Carpels fused

  the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another

  Flower lower lip length

  0 mm

  Flower position

  the flowers are above the surface of the water

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Inflorescence type

  the flowers grow out of the axil (point where a branch or leaf is attached to the main stem)

  Inflorescence width

  10–15 mm

  Length of flower stalk

  10–60 mm

  Length of peduncle

  10–60 mm

  Nectar spur

  the flower has no nectar spurs

  Number of carpels

  8–35

  Ovary position

  the sepals and/or petals are attached below the ovary

  Palate on corolla

  no

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal color

  • white
  • yellow

  Petal fringed edges

  the petals are not fringed

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are separate

  Petal hairs on inner/upper surface

  there are no hairs on the inner/upper petal surface

  Petal length

  4–7 mm

  Petal number

  5

  Petal or sepal number

  there are five petals, sepals, or tepals in the flower

  Sepal appearance

  the sepals resemble leaves in color and texture

  Sepal length

  2–4 mm

  Sepal number

  5

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  the sepals are separate from one another

  Spur length

  0 mm

  Stamen number

  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13 or more

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

  Stamens fused

  the stamens are not fused to one another

  Stamens fused to petals

  the stamens are not fused to the petals or tepals

• Fruits or seeds

  Fruit beak length

  0.2–0.5 mm

  Fruit length

  1–1.8 mm

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry but does not split open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is an achene (dry, usually 1-seeded, does not separate or split open at maturity)

  Fruit width

  0.8–1.2 mm

• Glands or sap

  Oil glands on nodes

  none of the nodes have oil glands

  Sap

  the sap is clear and watery

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Root septa

  the roots do not have transverse septa

  Roots floating in water

  there are no clusters of roots floating in the water

  Turions

  there are no turions on the plant

  Underground organs

  the plant has a rhizome (a horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Bract position (Sparganium)

  NA

  Floating leaf basal lobes

  NA

  Floating leaf blade width

  0 mm

  Floating leaf length

  0 mm

  Floating leaf shape

  NA

  Floating leaf tip

  NA

  Leaf arrangement

  alternate: there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Leaf blade length

  20–30 mm

  Leaf blade veins

  the lateral veins radiate from the base and continue to spread away from the centerline of the leaf, or branch off the central vein at intervals

  Leaf position

  the leaves are all submerged underwater

  Leaf special features

  none of the mentioned special features are present

  Leaf-like branch segments

  0

  Leaf-like branch shape

  the leaf-like branches are round

  Specific leaf type

  • the leaf has lobes that radiate from a common point, somewhat like a hand
  • the leaf is pinnately compound (i.e., it has three or leaflets distributed along a central axis

  Staminate bract edge (Myriophyllum)

  NA

  Stipule fused to leaf

  the stipules are attached to the leaf blade for some part of their length

  Stipules

  the plant has stipules

  Trap-bladder length

  0 mm

  Underwater leaf air passage number

  At least 1439

  Underwater leaf air passage relative width

  At least 4336

  Underwater leaf air passage row number

  0

  Underwater leaf blade edges

  the underwater leaf has smooth edges, without teeth

  Underwater leaf blade shape

  • the underwater leaf blade is capillary (very fine and hair-like)
  • the underwater leaf blade is flabellate (fan-shaped)
  • the underwater leaf blade is reniform (kidney-shaped; wider than long)

  Underwater leaf length

  20–30 mm

  Underwater leaf stalk

  yes

  Underwater leaf stalk length

  2–18 mm

  Underwater leaf tip shape

  the tip of the underwater leaf is rounded, with no point

  Veins in floating leaf

  0

• Place

  Habitat

  aquatic

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • in lakes or ponds
  • in rivers or streams

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Flowering stem growth form

  the flowering stem trails along the substrate, or floats in the water

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae