2n = 48

2n = 48

2n = 32

Tufted perennial; rhizome 0; rosettes to 5 cm tall. Lamina broad-ovate to deltoid, 9-15 mm diam., ternatifid up to c. 1/2 way, crenately lobed or bluntly toothed, hairy, coriaceous. Fls solitary, 15-20 mm diam.; scapes 2-4 cm long, hairy, bearing 1-2 narrow bracts. Sepals spreading, sparsely hairy. Petals 5-(7), yellow, brownish beneath, narrow-obovate; nectary single, c. 2 mm from petal base, covered by a narrow oblong scale. Receptacle sparsely hairy. Achenes (4)-6-(10), weakly flattened, glabrous; body ellipsoid, 2-2.5 mm long; beak straight, 2-2.5 mm long.

Rosettes single or forming small patches, appressed to the ground in exposed grassland but up to 5 cm tall in shelter of rocks. Leaves broad-ovate to deltoid, c. 9-14 × 9-14 mm, dark green, simple and crenately lobed or toothed, or cut to about halfway into 3 main lobes, rather thick and stiff, covered in pale buff hairs. Petioles 15-40 mm long, hairy, dark-mottled, with broad, sheathing, scarious, ciliate bases. Peduncle 2-4 cm long, stout, decumbent or ascending, dark-mottled or purplish throughout, hairy, bearing 1-2 simple narrow bracts near base. Flowers solitary, 15-20 mm diam.; sepals 5, caducous, green-margined, dark brown or sometimes almost black beneath; petals 5-(7), rather narrow, 7-10 × 3-4 mm, glossy yellow above but often blotched with orange-brown, dark brown beneath; nectary near base of petal, covered by a narrow oblong scale; stamens 15-20; receptacle sparsely hairy. Achenes 4-(6), blotched with very dark brown, c. 4-5 mm long; body ellipsoid, c. 2-2.5 × 1.5-2 mm; beak slender, barely curved, c. 2-2.5 mm long.

Herba rosulata a R. kirkii Petrie differt foliis crassis, trilobatis sed haud ternatis; floribus solitariis, grandioribus, nectario basali; acheniis angustioribus, rostris longioribus; a R. folioso Kirk differt floribus solitariis; nectario basali; acheniis paucis, majoribus, rostris longioribus.