Buttercups

Ranunculaceae

LIFE FORM: Perennial

NATIVITY: Eurasia

VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS:

Low growing plants with basal rosettes of tripartite leaves.

FLOWERS:

Bright, shiny yellow flowers produced in spring and summer at the ends of furrowed stalks that can be up to a foot tall.

FRUIT/DISPERSAL AGENTS:

Spread by seeds and runners that root at the nodes.

ECOLOGICAL PREFERENCE:

A common weed in dry lawns; neglected residential and commercial landscapes; minimally maintained public parks and open space; vacant lots and rubble dump sites; abandoned grasslands (meadows); freshwater wetlands, ponds and streams; rock outcrops and stone walls; unmowed highway banks and median strips with frequent salt applications.

ENVIRONMENTAL FUNCTION:

Disturbance-adapted colonizer.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:

Easy to recognize when in flower. Can be poisonous if ingested.