Ceratocephala testiculata

Outermost ca. 4 basal leaves sessile; leaf blade linear, 4--7 × 1--1.5 mm, glabrous or subglabrous; other basal leaves 4--11; petiole 0.3--2 cm, sparsely arachnoid; leaf blade broadly cuneate or flabellate-rhombic, 3--12 × 3--20 mm, sparsely arachnoid, base cuneate or broadly cuneate, 3-sect; segments unequally 1 or 2 × 2-sect, ultimate lobules linear. Scapes 1--5.8 cm, arachnoid. Flowers 6--9 mm in diam. Receptacle glabrous. Sepals long elliptic, 2.5--4.5 mm, abaxially densely puberulent. Petals narrowly obovate or ligulate, 4--6 × 1.2--1.8 mm, apex rounded; scale ligulate, ca. 0.3 mm. Stamens 4--10, ca. 2.5 mm; anthers ca. 0.8 mm. Carpels 10--60, ca. 2 mm; ovary densely arachnoid, longer than style. Aggregate fruit subglobose to oblong, 0.3--2 × 0.5--1 cm; achenes 1.5--2 mm, arachnoid. Persistent style 1.5--5 × 0.7--0.9 mm, straight, sparsely arachnoid. Fl. Apr--May, fr. May.

C and W Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, N Pakistan, Russia (W Siberia); SW Asia, Europe].

River banks, dry slopes, deserts; 600--1600 m.

Ranunculus testiculatus Crantz, Stirp. Austr. Fasc. 2: 97. 1763.