Ranunculus recurvatus (Hooked crowfoot)

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Ranunculus recurvatus Poir.

Hooked crowfoot, hooked buttercup, blisterwort

Kingdom	Plantae	Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta	Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients
Division	Magnoliophyta	Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms
Class	Magnoliopsida	Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves
Subclass	Magnoliidae	Includes magnolias, nutmeg, bay laurel, cinnamon, avocado, black pepper, and many others
Order	Ranunculales	Basal (evolved earlier) eudicots, also called “true dicots”
Family	Ranunculaceae	Buttercup family
Genus	Ranunculus	From Latin rana, “little frog,” because many species grow in moist places
Species	recurvatus	From Latin recurvata, curved backwards

About plant names...

This species prefers partial shade, and reasonably fertile, damp soil, such as woods, edges of swamps, or floodplains. It is native to most of North America.

See also Ranunculus recurvatus, with similar-appearing flowers but different leaves. They appear in woods, fields, and meadows.

Plants: 6-24" (15-60 cm) in height, with erect, hairy, branched stems.

Leaves: Lower leaves are ½-4" (1.3-10 cm), alternate, lobed and deeply divided into 3 or 5 parts. Upper leaves are similar, becoming smaller and thinner. Leaves are medium to dark green and hairless, and leaf tips are coarsely toothed or crenate.

Flowers: Modest-looking yellow flowers appear in haphazard-looking clusters of 2-16, on bare individual stalks at stem tips. Each flower is about ¼" (7.6 mm) around. If you look closely at the flower, there are 5-6 yellow petals, five yellowish-green sepals, and a ring of about 20 stamens around a bright green center. Flowers appear May-Jun.

Fruits: Each flower expands into a rounded seed head ~¹/₁₆" (1.6-2.2 mm) around, a dense cluster of seeds, each with a tiny velco-like hook, the source of the common name crowfoot. The seeds blacken as they mature.

5/14/2013 · Beaver Brook Assn Conservation Lands, Rte. 130, Hollis, New Hampshire
≈ 7 × 4½" (16 × 12 cm) ID is uncertain

5/25/2023 · Maquoit Bay Conservation Land, Brunswick, Maine

5/11/2010 · Nashua River Rail Trail, Pepperell, Massachusetts
≈ 10 × 9" (26 × 22 cm)

Here are some similar-looking species:

	*Ranunculus abortivus*	You are here Ranunculus recurvatus
Common Name	kidney-leaved buttercup	hooked crowfoot
Plant	Up to 24" (60 cm) in height.	6-24" (15-60 cm) in height, with erect, *hairy*, branched stems.
Flowers	Yellow star-shaped flowers in groups of 1-3, on individual stalks at stem tips. Each flower is ¼" (6.3 mm) around. Appear Apr-Jul.	Haphazard-looking clusters of *2-16* yellow flowers, on bare individual stalks at stem tips. Each flower is about ¼" (7.6 mm) around. Flowers appear May-Jun.
Leaves	Lower leaves are ½-4" (1.3-10 cm), and reniform (kidney-shaped), round, or heart-shaped with crenate edges. Upper leaves are alternate, hairless, lanceolate, oblanceolate, or oblong, with smooth edges, deeply and multiply-divided, up to 1½" (3.8 cm) long and sessile.	Lower leaves are ½-4" (1.3-10 cm), alternate, *lobed and deeply divided into 3 or 5 parts*. Upper leaves are similar, becoming smaller and thinner. Leaves are medium to dark green and hairless, and leaf tips are coarsely toothed or crenate.
Fruit	Fruits are insignificant, ¹/₃₂-¹/₁₆" (1.4-1.6 mm) in size, ripening to shiny brown.	Each flower expands into a rounded seed head ~¹/₁₆" (1.6-2.2 mm) around, a dense cluster of seeds, each with a *tiny velco-like hook*, hence the name crowfoot. The seeds blacken as they mature.
Range/ Zones
Habitats	Woods, meadows, fields, and clearings.	Woods, edges of swamps, or floodplains.
Type	Wild	Wild