Ranunculus adoxifolius Hand.-Mazz. in Acta Hort. Gotob. 13: 152. 1939; Nai-thani & Aswal in Indian J. For. 7: 75, ff. A-B. 1984. R. affinis auct. non R. Br.; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 18. 1872, p. p. R. caespitosus Wallich ex Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 18. 1872 (non Thuill. 1799).

Perennial herbs, suberect, subcaespitose; roots numerous; stems ascending, 4 - 10 (-20) cm high, slender, flaccid, sparingly branched. Basal leaves ovate-cordate to suborbicular, 1 - 2.5 cm long, sparsely silky pubescent with narrowly ternate lobes; terminal leaflet broadly ovate, 3-partite, slender-stalked; lateral leaflets shortly stalked; segments 2 - 4-partite; petioles slender at base; cauline leaves similar but smaller and less divided; upper ones subsessile. Flowers yellow, ca 1 cm across, usually solitary; pedicels 1.5 - 4 cm long, sparsely pubescent. Sepals 5, broadly ovate, 2.5 - 3.5 mm long, spreading, sparsely pubescent. Petals obovate, 3.5 - 4.5 x 2.5 - 3.5 mm, yellow. Achenes subglobose, ca 1 mm long, forming oblong, glabrous heads, ca 5 mm across; receptacles glabrous.

Fl. & Fr. June - Aug.

Distrib. India: Himalayas, in damp alpine grasslands and moist sandy soil, 3500 - 4000 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.

Pakistan, Nepal and China (Tibet).