Ranunculus pegaeus Hand.-Mazz. in Acta Hort. Gotob. 13: 141. 1939; Hara, Fl. B. Himal. 3: 37. 1975. R. hyperboreus auct. non Rottb.; Hook. f. & Thomson in Fl. Brit: India 1: 18. 1872, p. p.

Herbs, perennial, dwarf, glabrous; roots somewhat thickened proximally; fibrous roots few; stems creeping, stoloniferous, up to 20 cm long, rooting at nodes with rosulate leaves; internodes 1 - 8 cm long. Basal leaves pentagonal to reniform, 2 - 9 x 2 - 10 cm, medially to deeply 3-lobed or ternate; middle lobes ovate to oblong- lanceolate, entire or rarely 3-dentate, 2 - 5 x 1 - 4 cm; lateral lobes simple or 3-partite; petioles slender, 2 - 4 cm long. Scapes slender, naked, 1- 3.5 cm long, single-flowered. flowers yellow, small, less than 1.5 cm wide. Sepals 5, broadly obovate, navicular, concave, 1.5 - 2 mm long, ca 1.5 mm wide, glabrous. Petals 5, narrowly elliptic, clawed at base, rounded at apex, ca 2.5 x 1.5 mm. Anthers 0.2 - 0.6 mm long, basifixed, latrorse; filaments flattened. Achenes broadly obovate, lenticulate, ca 1 mm long, glabrous, in broadly ovoid or globose 2 - 3 mm long heads with glabrous receptacles.

Fl. & Fr. June - Aug.

Distrib. India: Himalayas. Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim.

Nepal and China (W. Tibet).