owdegroff's Identifications

pink buttercup, Beckwithia andersonii (=Ranunculus andersonii), California, White Mountains, Black Mountain, Owens Valley drainage, elevation 2429 m (7970 ft).

These cuties bloom early and fast as the snow melts at a particular elevation, and if you miss those few weeks, they are gone again. This is the only area they have been found in the White Mountains, although a lot of similar (but less accessible) habitat exists in the surrounding area.

This distinctive buttercup is a regional endemic to the sagebrush and pinyon-juniper zones of the Great Basin and immediately adjacent areas of the interior western United States, at elevations of 900-2900 meters (3000-9500 feet). It is generally found on open upland slopes and flats, but usually where the spring snow pack is a bit more persistent. The petals start off white but quickly age pinkish to red.

Recent DNA studies have suggested that this species is different enough from most other buttercups to belong in a separate genus, Beckwithia. I include both names here until there is more consensus one way or the other.

Uploaded from my Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127605180@N04/