| Ranunculus acris | |
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Ranunculus |
| Species: | R. acris |
| Binomial name | |
| Ranunculus acris | |
| Synonyms | |
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Ranunculus acris is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, and is one of the more common buttercups across Europe and temperate Eurasia. Common names include meadow buttercup, [1] tall buttercup, [2] common buttercup and giant buttercup.
Ranunculus acris is a herbaceous perennial plant that grows to a height of 30 to 70 cm, with ungrooved flowing stems bearing glossy yellow flowers about 25 mm across. There are five overlapping petals borne above five green sepals that soon turn yellow as the flower matures. It has numerous stamens inserted below the ovary. The leaves are compound, with three-lobed leaflets. Unlike Ranunculus repens , the terminal leaflet is sessile. As with other members of the genus, the numerous seeds are borne as achenes.
The rare autumn buttercup (R. aestivalis) is sometimes treated as a variety of this species. [3]
The juice of the plant is semi-poisonous to livestock, causing blistering. [4]
The plant is native to Eurasia, but has been introduced across much of the world so that it now has a circumpolar distribution. [5] It is a naturalized species and often a weed in parts of North America, [6] but it is probably native in Alaska and Greenland. [7] In New Zealand it is a serious pasture weed costing the dairy industry hundreds of millions of dollars. [8] It has become one of the few pasture weeds that has developed a resistance to herbicides. [9]
R. acris is a species characteristic of grazed or mown neutral grassland communities, tending to occupy areas where drainage conditions are intermediate between those favoured by R. bulbosus in drier soils, and R. repens in wetter soils. [10] Its abundance is said to be an indicator of grassland age and continuity but does not appear to be a good competitor in species-rich communities dominated by tall grasses. [11]
The flower buds begin developing in late summer in the year before flowering. Floral development is promoted by low winter temperatures, and the plant passes the winter in a rosette form with small green leaves that appear to resist the ravages of frost. [10] Reproduction occurs from seeds and short thick rhizomes that can split to form daughter plants [11]
In horticulture the species may be regarded as a troublesome weed, colonising lawns and paths. However, it may be a welcome feature of wildflower meadows. The double-flowered cultivar R. acris 'Flore Pleno' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. [12] [13]
Oils in the plant, probably present in the leaves and stems, contain the glycoside ranunculin, which when ingested can cause abdominal pains and intestinal disorders. [11] When eaten by animals, the buttercups have caused blistering of the tongue and lips, diarrhea and blindness. [14] Other symptoms of poisoning include ventricular fibrillation and respiratory failure. [11]
The Abenaki smash the flowers and leaves and sniff them for headaches. [15] The Bella Coola apply a poultice of pounded roots to boils. [16] The Micmac use the leaves for headaches. [17] The Montagnais inhale the crushed leaves for headaches. [18]
The Cherokee use it as a poultice for abscesses, use an infusion for oral thrush, and use the juice as a sedative. [19] They also cook the leaves and eat them as greens. [19]
The Iroquois apply a poultice of the smashed plant to the chest for pains and for colds, take an infusion of the roots for diarrhea, [20] and apply a poultice of plant fragments with another plant to the skin for excess water in the blood. [21]
Ficaria verna, commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae native to Europe and Western Asia. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with bright yellow, glossy petals. It is now introduced in North America, where it is known by the common name fig buttercup and considered an invasive species. The plant is poisonous if ingested raw and potentially fatal to grazing animals and livestock such as horses, cattle, and sheep. For these reasons, several US states have banned the plant or listed it as a noxious weed. It prefers bare, damp ground and is considered by horticulturalists in the United Kingdom as a persistent garden weed; nevertheless, many specialist plantsmen, nursery owners and discerning gardeners in the UK and Europe collect selected cultivars of the plant, including bronze-leaved and double-flowered ones. Emerging in late winter with flowers appearing late February through May in the UK, its appearance across the landscape is regarded by many as a harbinger of spring.
Ranunculus is a large genus of about 1700 to more than 1800 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.
Ranunculus repens, the creeping buttercup, is a flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to Europe, Asia and northwestern Africa. It is also called creeping crowfoot and sitfast.
Ranunculus bulbosus, commonly known as bulbous buttercup or St. Anthony's turnip, is a perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has bright yellow flowers, and deeply divided, three-lobed long-petioled basal leaves.
Epigaea repens, the mayflower, trailing arbutus, or ground laurel, is a low, spreading shrub in the family Ericaceae. It is found from Newfoundland to Florida, west to Kentucky and the Northwest Territories.
Jeffersonia, also known as twinleaf or rheumatism root, is a small genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Berberidaceae. They are uncommon spring wildflowers and grow in limestone soils of rich deciduous forests. Jeffersonia was named for United States President Thomas Jefferson by his contemporary Benjamin Smith Barton. This genus was formerly grouped in genus Podophyllum. Twinleaf is protected by state laws as a threatened or endangered plant in Georgia, Iowa, New York, and New Jersey.
Geranium viscosissimum, commonly known as the sticky purple geranium, is a perennial in the flowering plant family Geraniaceae. It is thought to be a protocarnivorous plant.
Cardamine diphylla is a flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. It is a spring flowering woodland plant that is native to eastern North America.
Ficaria is a small genus of several species of plants in the family Ranunculaceae, which were previously grouped with Ranunculus. The genus includes Ficaria verna, known as fig buttercup or lesser celandine, and related species. The name "Ficaria" is Classical Latin for fig. Plants in the genus are closely related to true buttercups, but generally have only three sepals and swollen smooth achenes.
Coprosma repens is a species of flowering shrub or small tree of the genus Coprosma, in the family Rubiaceae, native to New Zealand. Common names include taupata, tree bedstraw, mirror bush, looking-glass bush, New Zealand laurel and shiny leaf.
Ranunculus aconitifolius, the aconite-leaf buttercup or bachelor's buttons, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to central Europe. Growing to 60 cm (24 in) high by 40 cm (16 in) broad, this herbaceous perennial has slightly hairy palmate leaves up to 20 cm (8 in) long, and loose panicles of white, saucer-shaped flowers in spring.
Ranunculus parviflorus is a species of buttercup known by the common name smallflower buttercup. It is native to Europe, but it is known on other areas of the world as an introduced species and sometimes a roadside weed, for example, in parts of Australia and the United States.
Ranunculus sardous is a species of buttercup known by the common name hairy buttercup. It is native to Europe and it can be found in many other areas of the world, including parts of the United States and Australia, as an introduced species and a roadside and lawn weed. It grows in many types of disturbed habitat, especially in moist areas. It is an annual or biennial herb producing a mostly erect, hairy stem up to half a meter tall. The hairy leaves are usually divided into three leaflets which are borne on petioles a few centimeters in length. The flower has usually five yellow petals each up to a centimeter long and five reflexed sepals. The fruit is an achene borne in a spherical cluster of up to 35.
Ranunculus aestivalis is a rare species of buttercup known by the common names fall buttercup and autumn buttercup. It is endemic to the state of Utah in the United States, where it exists only in Garfield County next to the Sevier River. It is restricted to a moist microhabitat in an otherwise dry, open ecosystem, and the amount of available habitat is very limited. This is a federally listed endangered species of the United States. It has been described as "the most graceful and showy members of the genus in the western United States," but also "one of the state's rarest and most restricted plants."
Ranunculus abortivus is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Its common names include littleleaf buttercup, small-flower crowfoot, small-flowered buttercup, and kidneyleaf buttercup. It is widespread across much of North America, found in all ten Canadian provinces as well as Yukon and the Northwest Territories, and most of the United States, except Hawaii, Oregon, California, and parts of the Southwest.
This is a list of plants used by the indigenous people of North America. For lists pertaining specifically to the Cherokee, Iroquois, Navajo, and Zuni, see Cherokee ethnobotany, Iroquois ethnobotany, Navajo ethnobotany, and Zuni ethnobotany.
This is a list of plants documented to have been traditionally used by the Cherokee, and how they are used.
The Iroquois use a wide variety of medicinal plants, including quinine, chamomile, ipecac, and a form of penicillin.
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