Sagebrush Buttercup Report #3

Tools of the trade.

My day job ended at 5 PM.  At home I quickly changed clothes, gathered the necessary tools, rounded up my assistant, and drove east into the Laramie Mountains, destination Vedauwoo.  We were on a mission, with little time to spare.  Already the sun was low in the western sky.

Over a month ago I had spotted my first sagebrush buttercup of the season, growing on a warm dry southeast-facing slope.  Then it snowed, and snowed, and snowed some more ... 2-3 feet of wet spring snow in all.  I predicted that the early-bird buttercup would survive, but was I right?  It was time to find out.

Vedauwoo a little over a week ago.

From the ridge crest, at the location of the photo above, it appeared spring had really arrived.  No snow was visible!  We made a beeline north, intent on finding the buttercup of concern as quickly as possible.  Tools to help relocate it included a topo map, a GPS unit with a track of the previous expedition but no waypoint for the buttercup itself, my memory, and a photo of the buttercup site.  The last would prove to be invaluable.

There was no shortage of sagebrush buttercup flowers.  Grassy openings among the sagebrush were filled with them.  True to their nature, they were blooming brightly even in the dying light of evening.

Above, a healthy patch of sagebrush buttercups, Ranunculus glaberrimus.  Below, some flowers still have petals while others have dropped them, leaving the central cluster of ripening fruits (achenes).

We crossed several gullies, beating our way through common juniper, downed wood and wetlands in the bottoms.  There was plenty of water but no snow ... it had all melted in less than nine days!  In an area that looked familiar we intersected the track on the GPS.  I chose to follow it uphill.  When we still hadn’t found the buttercup after 20 minutes, I decided to turn around and search downhill instead.  We hurried, as the light was getting low and the sun would soon set.

The magical hour was upon us.

Then I saw a critical clue -- a burnt log.  This was not just any burnt log but one that matched the log in the photo.

Yep ... looks the same.

How about the skyline?

Things match pretty well, especially the dead trees.

This is the site!  See the buttercup? (just below and left of center)

There it was -- the target of our search.  The sagebrush buttercup was still growing vigorously, sporting a single flower about to drop its petals.

Mission accomplished, we headed back to the car, enjoying the sunset en route.

Before driving home, I looked up and saw ...

... the crescent moon, while ...

... in the ditch along the road, Sparky had at last found enough snow to play in.

A Buttercup Worthy of its Name

The photogenic sagebrush buttercup, Ranunculus glaberrimus, usually is the first wildflower to bloom each spring in the Laramie Mountains, southeast Wyoming.

Very few of our wild buttercups look like cups of butter.  There might be a flash of yellow if one catches a glimpse of the small flowers, but as Claude Barr wrote, “If one has known buttercups in all the happy connotations of the name, one quickly looks elsewhere.” (Jewels of the Plains, 1983, Univ. MN Press).

The sagebrush buttercup is an exception.  Its flowers are bright and glossy and large enough to qualify as showy, especially considering when it blooms -- early spring when everything else still is gray and brown.

Sagebrush buttercup petals shine in the sun; flower ca 2 cm across.

Buttercup petals are lustrous because “The epidermal layer of cells has not one but two extremely flat surfaces from which light is reflected. One is the top of the cells, the other exists because the epidermis is separated from the lower layers of the petal by an air gap. Reflection of light by the smooth surface of the cells and by the air layer effectively doubles the gloss of the petal ...” (from Science News -- Why Buttercups Reflect Yellow On Chins).

Sagebrush buttercup growing with sagebrush, as it should (yellow spot just below center).

Sagebrush buttercup is atypical in other ways ... such as its habitat.  Most buttercups prefer moist-to-wet areas, hence the Latin name Ranunculus meaning “little frog”.  But this one grows on dry sites, though often close to protective shrubs (maybe more snow accumulates there).

Ranunculus macounii is a typical buttercup -- likes wet habitat and has deeply-lobed leaves (source).

Sagebrush buttercup leaves are unusual too.  Another common name for buttercups is “crow’s foot” -- for the deeply-lobed leaves.  But sagebrush buttercup has basal leaves that are entire or shallowly-lobed at most.

We found these flowers while hiking on a beautiful spring day last week.  Now five days later we're in the midst of a blizzard.  In the Laramie Mountains it's 3º F and snow is falling. What are the sagebrush buttercups doing?  Probably they're hunkered down, protected by snow accumulating beneath the sagebrush.  I bet we'll see them again in just a few weeks, in full bloom.

 Above and below -- sagebrush buttercup weather report

(courtesy Wyoming Department of Transportation).