Wildflower (forb) · Ranunculaceae
Alkali buttercup
Ranunculus cymbalaria
Alkali buttercup is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 502 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Alkali buttercup at a glance
- Native in
- 502 counties, across 31 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b PLANTS minimum temperature −38°F
- Mature height
- 1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 3b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −38°F; zone 3b winters bottom out at −35°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Alkali buttercup is recorded as native to 31 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 502 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 502 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alaska 15 counties
- Arizona 6 counties
- California 21 counties
- Colorado 40 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Idaho 23 counties
- Illinois 6 counties
- Iowa 8 counties
- Kansas 28 counties
- Maine 9 counties
- Massachusetts 10 counties
- Michigan 2 counties
- Minnesota 40 counties
- Missouri 3 counties
- Montana 27 counties
- Nebraska 32 counties
- Nevada 16 counties
- New Hampshire 2 counties
- New Jersey 3 counties
- New Mexico 16 counties
- New York 7 counties
- North Dakota 45 counties
- Oklahoma 4 counties
- Oregon 19 counties
- Rhode Island 4 counties
- South Dakota 22 counties
- Texas 9 counties
- Utah 29 counties
- Washington 26 counties
- Wisconsin 8 counties
- Wyoming 22 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
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 1 ft
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Semi-Erect
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Medium
- Precipitation range
- 12 to 48 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Medium and fine
- pH range
- 6.5 to 8
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Medium
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 9 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −38°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 3b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Medium
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RACY
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 cymbalaria (PLANTS symbol RACY).
- 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