Authors: Benth.  

Botanical Description

Tufted to small clump-forming, with branching flowering stems 30-60cm high. Basal leaves hairy, ovate or orbicular, deeply three-lobed or divided into three to five leaflets, the latter lobed. Flowers several, 1.6-3cm across, composed of nine to sixteen lustrous rich yellow petals, spring to early summer. Oregon to Baja California, on vernally moist slopes below 910m. R.c. var. cuneatus has prostrate stems up to 25cm long. Coastal bluffs, hills, prairie and scrub. Var. austromontanus has fan-shaped leaves and flowers to 1.6cm across, composed of seven to twelve petals.

Cahfornia only, mainly in montane conifer forest but also grassland and stream banks at 1360-2250m. All forms of R. californicus need some winter protection, though var. austromontanus will survive in a sheltered sunny sites.