Ranunculus hirtellus Royle, Illus. Bot. Himal. 53. 1834; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit. India 1: 18. 1872.

Perennial herbs, erect or decumbent, distinctly pubescent; rootstock fibrous, shortly fusiform; stems ascending, decumbent or erect, 5 - 16 cm long, pilose. Basal leaves usually 3 - several; lamina reniform to orbicular or broadly ovate, 5 - 18 x 6 - 22 mm, medially to deeply 3-partite; segments rarely more than 3-toothed; middle lobes often very large, broadly oblong to obovate, entire or tricuspidate, up to 6 x 4 cm; lateral lobes obliquely ovate, coarsely toothed or entire; leaf bases cordate to truncate; petioles 1.5 - 8 cm. long, vaginate at base. Cauline leaves vaginate and amplexicaul at base, entire or simply 3-partite; lobes narrow, linear-lanceolate. Flowers 1 - 1.5 cm across, solitary or several, yellow; pedicels sulcate, 0.5 - 6 cm long, pilose. Sepals oblong, 3 - 5 mm long, navicular, hairy. Petals 5, oblong to broadly ovate, clawed, sometimes asymmetrical, obtuse or rounded, 5 - 6 mm long, 1.5 - 5 mm broad; nectaries cup-shaped or forked. Anthers 0.8 - 1.2 mm long, basifixeed; filaments flattened. Achenes oblong to suborbicular, 1.5 - 1.7 mm long, somewhat inflated, glabrous, on ovoid ca 4 mm long and broad pilose or glabrous receptacle, very hairy when young; stylar beak thick, ca 1 mm long, straight or curved, glandular hairy.

Fl. & Fr. June - Oct.

Distrib. India: Himalayas, temperate and subalpine slopes, 2000 - 4500 m. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim.

Nepal, Pakistan, Afghanistan and China (Tibet).