Wildflower (forb) · Ranunculaceae
Littleleaf buttercup
Ranunculus abortivus
Littleleaf buttercup is recorded as native to 44 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,521 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Littleleaf buttercup at a glance
- Native in
- 1,521 counties, across 44 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a PLANTS minimum temperature −43°F
- Mature height
- 2.8 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade Medium water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −43°F; zone 3a winters bottom out at −40°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Littleleaf buttercup is recorded as native to 44 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 1,521 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 1,521 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 14 counties
- Alaska 5 counties
- Arkansas 62 counties
- Colorado 9 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 7 counties
- Georgia 22 counties
- Idaho 4 counties
- Illinois 100 counties
- Indiana 83 counties
- Iowa 20 counties
- Kansas 51 counties
- Kentucky 84 counties
- Louisiana 38 counties
- Maine 15 counties
- Massachusetts 13 counties
- Michigan 81 counties
- Minnesota 75 counties
- Mississippi 23 counties
- Missouri 111 counties
- Montana 9 counties
- Nebraska 36 counties
- New Hampshire 9 counties
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New Mexico 3 counties
- New York 50 counties
- North Carolina 67 counties
- North Dakota 23 counties
- Ohio 84 counties
- Oklahoma 17 counties
- Pennsylvania 67 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Carolina 22 counties
- South Dakota 15 counties
- Tennessee 63 counties
- Texas 13 counties
- Vermont 14 counties
- Virginia 97 counties
- Washington 3 counties
- West Virginia 38 counties
- Wisconsin 44 counties
- Wyoming 6 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Biennial, Perennial
- Mature height
- 2.8 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- Medium water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- None
- Precipitation range
- 16 to 58 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 5 to 7.5
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- None
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 4 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −43°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 110
- Fire tolerance
- None
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Black
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Routinely Available
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RAAB
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Ranunculus abortivus (PLANTS symbol RAAB).
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources