Ranunculus inamoenus

A plant of high-elevation seeps. Similar to Ranunculus eschscholtzii, which is distinguished by having 3-lobed basal leaves.

A flower in the La Sal Mts., 6/18/06.

Plant habit in the La Sal Mts., 6/18/06.

A basal leaf in the La Sal Mountains, 6/18/06. As you can see, the leaf margin is deeply crenate, with the two central sinuses deeper than the others. It's not clear how much deeper those sinuses have to be for the leaf to become lobed... and hence the distinction between this and Ranunculus eschscholtzii is not entirely clear to me.