Leaf blades always parted (often deeply so), segments lobed or parted, margins deeply crenate or lobulate. Achene faces smooth. 2 n = 64.

Flowering spring-summer (Mar-Sep). Wet ground or shallow water, in bogs and ponds, on shores of lakes and rivers; 0-2600 m; Alta., B.C., Man., N.W.T., Ont., Que., Sask., Yukon; Alaska, Ariz., Calif., Colo., Idaho, Iowa, Minn., Mont., Nebr., Nev., N.Mex., N.Dak., Oreg., S.Dak., Utah, Wash., Wyo.

Reports of Ranunculus sceleratus var. multifidus for eastern Quebec and New Brunswick are errors for R . sceleratus var. sceleratus .