Ranunculus minimusE.H.L.Krause

tiny mousetail

WFO wfo-0000463065 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Ranunculus minimus, photographed by Екатерина Кропочева
fig. a Екатерина Кропочева, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-29 / obs. 201995174
Ranunculus minimus, photographed by James C. Davis
fig. b James C. Davis, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 200886633
Ranunculus minimus, photographed by Christian Berg
fig. c Christian Berg, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 200790987
Ranunculus minimus, photographed by Randal
fig. d Randal, CC0 1.0 / obs. 200720625
Ranunculus minimus, photographed by Lennart Hudel
fig. e Lennart Hudel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 192939066
Ranunculus minimus, photographed by Patrick Hacker
fig. f Patrick Hacker, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197793491
Ranunculus minimus, photographed by Andre Hosper
fig. g Andre Hosper, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191117910
Ranunculus minimus, photographed by Andre Hosper
fig. h Andre Hosper, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 191117996

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 88 botanical countries

Regions where Ranunculus minimus is native: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Altay, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Lebanon-Syria, North Caucasus, Palestine, Transcaucasus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, West Siberia, Austria, Baleares, Baltic States, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Czechia-Slovakia, Denmark, East European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kriti, Krym, Netherlands, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, Norway, NW. Balkan Pen., Poland, Romania, Sicilia, South European Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye-in-Europe, Ukraine, Alabama, Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Manitoba, Maryland, Mexico Northwest, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming AlgeriaLibyaMoroccoAltayCyprusIranIraqKazakhstanLebanon-SyriaNorth CaucasusPalestineTranscaucasusTürkiyeTurkmenistanWest SiberiaAustriaBaltic StatesBelarusBelgiumBulgariaCentral European RussiaCzechia-SlovakiaDenmarkEast European RussiaFinlandFranceGermanyGreeceHungaryItalyKritiKrymNetherlandsNorth European RussiaNorthwest European RussiaNorwayNW. Balkan Pen.PolandRomaniaSiciliaSouth European RussiaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandTürkiye-in-EuropeUkraineAlabamaAlbertaArizonaArkansasBritish ColumbiaCaliforniaColoradoIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaManitobaMarylandMexico NorthwestMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaOntarioOregonPennsylvaniaSaskatchewanSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVirginiaWashingtonWisconsinWyoming Baleares
Native distribution of Ranunculus minimus, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Alberta ABT
Arizona ARI
Arkansas ARK
British Columbia BRC
California CAL
Colorado COL
Idaho IDA
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Iowa IOW
Kansas KAN
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Manitoba MAN
Maryland MRY
Mexico Northwest MXN
Minnesota MIN
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
Montana MNT
Nebraska NEB
New Mexico NWM
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
North Dakota NDA
Oklahoma OKL
Ontario ONT
Oregon ORE
Pennsylvania PEN
Saskatchewan SAS
South Carolina SCA
South Dakota SDA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Utah UTA
Virginia VRG
Washington WAS
Wisconsin WIS
Wyoming WYO
Austria AUT EUROPE
Baleares BAL
Baltic States BLT
Belarus BLR
Belgium BGM
Bulgaria BUL
Central European Russia RUC
Czechia-Slovakia CZE
Denmark DEN
East European Russia RUE
Finland FIN
France FRA
Germany GER
Great Britain GRB
Greece GRC
Hungary HUN
Italy ITA
Kriti KRI
Krym KRY
Netherlands NET
North European Russia RUN
Northwest European Russia RUW
Norway NOR
NW. Balkan Pen. YUG
Poland POL
Romania ROM
Sicilia SIC
South European Russia RUS
Spain SPA
Sweden SWE
Switzerland SWI
Türkiye-in-Europe TUE
Ukraine UKR
Altay ALT ASIA-TEMPERATE
Cyprus CYP
Iran IRN
Iraq IRQ
Kazakhstan KAZ
Lebanon-Syria LBS
North Caucasus NCS
Palestine PAL
Transcaucasus TCS
Türkiye TUR
Turkmenistan TKM
West Siberia WSB
Algeria ALG AFRICA
Libya LBY
Morocco MOR

Not drawn on the map: Great Britain. We hold no public-domain boundary for this region, so it is listed rather than guessed at.

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Flowering 205 in flower of 313 examined

Peak flowering in Apr. Each bar is the share of Ranunculus minimus observations in which someone actually recorded the reproductive state and found the plant in flower, not the raw number of flowering records. That distinction matters: people observe plants far more in spring than in winter, so a bare count of flowering records partly measures when people go outside. Dividing by the number examined removes that. 205 of 313 examined observations were in flower, every one of them research grade. The whisker on each bar is a 95% Wilson interval. 4 months have fewer than 5 examined observations, so no proportion is drawn for them. This is still a global aggregate and not a forecast for your garden: the same species flowers on different dates in different hemispheres. Where a species has fewer than 30 flowering records we do not draw this chart at all. Computed from 10.15468/dl.cgje2x.

Also published as 16 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Myosurus apetalus var. lepturus A.Gray
  • Myosurus aristatus var. lepturus (A.Gray) Jeps.
  • Myosurus cauda-muris Neck.
  • Myosurus europaea Gray
  • Myosurus lepturus Howell
  • Myosurus major Greene
  • Myosurus minimus L.
  • Myosurus minimus subsp. major (Greene) G.R.Campb.
  • Myosurus minimus subsp. pringlei (Huth) G.R.Campb.
  • Myosurus minimus var. interior B.Boivin
  • Myosurus minimus var. major (Greene) K.C.Davis
  • Myosurus minimus var. shortii (Raf.) Huth
  • Myosurus prenglii Huth
  • Myosurus shortii Raf.
  • Myosurus tenellus Greene
  • Myosurus tenellus var. amphioxys Greene

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. USDA PLANTS Database. common name, checklist symbol MYMI2. public domain. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.