Leaf blades lobed or parted, segments undivided or lobed, margins crenate. Achene faces with fine transverse wrinkles. 2 n = 32.

Flowering late winter-summer (Mar-Sep). Ponds, ditches and riverbanks; 0-700 m; St. Pierre and Miquelon; Alta., B.C., Man., N.B., Nfld., N.S., Ont., Que., Sask.; Ala., Ark., Calif., Conn., Del., D.C., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Ky., La., Maine, Md., Mass., Mich., Minn., Miss., Mo., Nebr., N.H., N.J., N.Y., N.C., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., Oreg., Pa., R.I., S.C., S.Dak., Tenn., Tex., Vt., Va., Wash., W.Va., Wis.; Europe.

Ranunculus sceleratus var. sceleratus is a serious weed of watercourses and marshy fields. It is a naturalized weed in western North America; it is not clear whether it is native in the eastern part of the continent or was introduced from Europe.

Local in ponds, springy places, and ditches in the lake area and absent or very local south of this area. Our plants vary from glabrous to pubescent all over.