RHH's photos with the keyword: buttercup

My wife saw the first wildflowers of the season yesterday. I haven't had a chance to get photos so am posting these older photos. These are Sagebrush Buttercups, the flowers she saw. The inset is of Grass Widows, the next to bloom, but none of them have showed themselves yet.

The Sagebrush Buttercup is the first wildflower to bloom in our area. I saw the first ones on March 9 and they are everywhere now, though they will soon be finished. They are followed by the Grass Widows (inset), the Yellow Bells and Camas.

I've identified these flowers as the Alkali Buttercup and that is the best I can do. They were blooming in The Ravines, a west Michigan park when photographed and they were everywhere in the wet areas of the park as the insets show.

These Buttercups were blooming everywhere in the wet areas of The Ravines, a park along the Grand River in west Michigan.

These, I believe, are Alkali Buttercups, photographed in The Ravines, a park along the Grand River in west Michigan. They were growing here with Skunk Cabbage.

Not at all sure about the ID on this wildflower. Photographed in Aman Park in western Michigan, I did not have any resources with me when it was photographed and there are so many species of Buttercups that it would have been difficult in any case.

We've been watching for the first signs of spring and have finally found a few the last week or so. Friday we found our first wildflower, too, the Sagebrush Buttercup, so spring is on the way.

The insect is the Small Milkweed Bug, Lygaeus kalmii, and the flowers are one of the Buttercups, perhaps the Swamp Buttercup, Ranunculus orthorhynchus. The photo was taken near the Columbia River on a hike up Dog Mountain.

I am unsure of the species on this Ranunculus - the species listed is the closest match I could find. This was photographed on the tundra at about 6000 feet, growing in the wetter areas.