Wildflower (forb) · Ranunculaceae
High northern buttercup
Ranunculus hyperboreus
High northern buttercup is recorded as native to 7 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 62 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
High northern buttercup at a glance
- Native in
- 62 counties, across 7 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a PLANTS minimum temperature −62°F
- Mature height
- 1 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Full sun (shade-intolerant) Moisture use not recorded
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 1a. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of −62°F; zone 1a winters bottom out at −60°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
High northern buttercup is recorded as native to 7 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 62 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 62 where it is listed.
- El Paso County, CO
- Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, AK
- Bethel Census Area, AK
- Boulder County, CO
- Anchorage Municipality, AK
- Cascade County, MT
- Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK
- Lake and Peninsula Borough, AK
- Missoula County, MT
- Nome Census Area, AK
- Elko County, NV
- Fremont County, WY
- Madison County, MT
- Lewis and Clark County, MT
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough, AK
Native counties by state
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
- Not recorded
- Growth form
- Stoloniferous
- Shape
- Prostrate
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Intolerant (full sun (shade-intolerant))
- Moisture use
- Not recorded
- Drought tolerance
- Low
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- Low
- Precipitation range
- 10 to 50 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Not recorded
- pH range
- 5 to 7
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Not recorded
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 12 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- −62°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 1a and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 120
- Fire tolerance
- Not recorded
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- No
- Bloom period
- Summer
- Foliage color
- Dark Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Not recorded
Other
- Toxicity
- Moderate
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- Not recorded
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RAHY2
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 hyperboreus (PLANTS symbol RAHY2).
- 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