Family: Ranunculaceae,
Buttercup
Genus: Trollius
Description
General: Hairless perennial with strong fibrous roots.
Stems 1 to several, 10-40 cm tall, usually clumped.
 Leaves: the basal long-stalked, 4-8 cm wide, with broad
membranous stipules, the blade palmately cleft or divided
into (usually) 5 obovate, 3-lobed and toothed segments.
Stem leaves alternate, usually 2-3, short-stalked below to
usually stalkless above.
 Flowers: white to cream-colored, single on stalks 2-15
cm long. Petals lacking, sepals 5-9, showy, ovate to
obovate, 10-20 mm long. Stamens numerous, the outer
shorter, modified to a ring of 5-15 sterile staminodia, which
are oblong, 2-5 mm long.
Flowering time: May-August.
 Fruits: erect clusters of 10-20 follicles 8-11 mm long,
with spreading tips, strongly nerved crosswise, sparsely to
densely covered with tiny bumps, containing several seeds.
Distribution
Montane swampland to alpine meadows or wet slopes,
usually blossoming as the snow recedes, in w. and sc.
parts of MT. Also from B.C. to CO and e. to CT. |
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