Ranunculus ficaria

Fig buttercup was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant. It is still available commercially in the U.S. along with many colorful varieties. All varieties should be assumed to be potentially invasive and should not be allowed to escape from plantings.

Fig buttercup, also known as lesser celandine, was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant and many colorful varieties are currently available commercially.

The flowers of lesser celandine close just before it begins to rain, and are only open between 9 am and 5 pm (5). They are pollinated by bees, flies and beetles (2), but very few seeds are typically set (5). This perennial plant remains in full bloom throughout March and April but begins to fade in early summer (5). The plant dies back during May, and remains dormant throughout the rest of summer, autumn, and winter, with nutrients stored in the underground root-tubers (5). These tubers allow the plant to spread quickly in disturbed areas - they break away from the roots and give rise to new plants. The subspecies bulbifer can also spread by means of the tuberous bulb-like structures it produces at the junction between plant stem and leaf stem (4).

As the local name 'spring messenger' suggests, lesser celandine is one of the first flowers of the year (4). Its bright buttery yellow flowers are a cheering sight in the middle of February, brightening hedgerows and woodlands alike (5). The roughly heart-shaped leaves, which appear just before the flowers, are dark green, shiny and fleshy, and are often mottled with patches of darker green (2). The plant grows from root-tubers, which are said to look like bunches of figs. This explains the scientific name of the plant, ficaria, which is Latin for fig. Another alternative name of this celandine, pilewort, also derives from the appearance of these knobbly tubers. Their general similarity to haemorrhoids led to the plant being widely used to treat this condition (4). There are two native subspecies in Britain, Ranunculus ficaria ficaria and Ranunculus ficaria bulbifer . The latter bears tuberous bulb-like structures known as 'bulbils' at the points where the leaf stalks meet the main stem of the plant (3).

This perennial wildflower produces a small cluster of basal leaves, from which one or more flowering stems develop. These flowering stems are up to 1' tall and 1½' long; they are erect to sprawling (usually the latter). Individual stems are light green, terete, and glabrous; they have opposite leaves below and smaller alternate leaves above. The basal and lower opposite leaves are ¾-2" long and similarly across; they are oval-cordate to orbicular-cordate, shallowly crenate, and slightly undulate along their margins. The upper alternate leaves are often shallowly and irregularly lobed, otherwise they are similar in shape to the basal and opposite leaves. The upper surfaces of these leaves are medium to dark green and glabrous, while their lower surfaces are pale to medium green and glabrous. The petioles of these leaves are ½-4" long, light green, and glabrous; their bases are slightly swollen and sheath-like. Sometimes small bulbils are produced individually from the bases of the petioles (especially for ssp. bulbifer). Flowers are produced individually from the axils of upper leaves, or they may terminate the upper stems. Each flower spans about 1" across, consisting of 7-12 yellow petals, 3 light green sepals, a ring of about 30 stamens, and a central cluster of about 15 pistils. The petals are elliptic or oblong in shape and only slightly overlap, while the sepals are ovate with blunt tips. The sepals are about two-thirds of the length of the sepals. The pedicels of the flowers are 2-6" long, light green, terete, and glabrous. The blooming period occurs from early to mid-spring, lasting about 1 month. Afterwards, the flowers are replaced by seedheads spanning about 1/3" (8 mm.) across at maturity. Each seedhead has about 15 achenes. The achenes are ¼" (6 mm.) long and about one-half as much across; they are slightly flattened and beakless. The root system consists of a cluster of shallow tubers and fibrous roots. Clonal colonies of plants are often formed by vegetative offsets from the tubers and by the spread of bulbils. The latter can be distributed by water.

The non-native Lesser Celandine is apparently rare in Illinois, where naturalized plants have been observed in only two counties (see Distribution Map). In some northeastern states, it is more common and highly invasive. Unless vigorous methods are adopted to control its spread, it seems likely that Lesser Celandine will become more common in Illinois in the future. Lesser Celandine was introduced into North America from Eurasia as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Habitats consist of floodplain woodlands, grassy meadows, streambanks, roadside ditches, and moist waste areas. Both degraded and higher quality habitats can be invaded. Because of its ornamental flowers, Lesser Celandine is sometimes cultivated in gardens, although this practice has been made illegal in some northeastern states.

Fig buttercup is reported to be invasive in at least seventeen states in the northeastern U.S. from Wisconsin to New Hampshire south to Tennessee and, to date, in one western state, Oregon (http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org).

Eurasia including Europe, Northern Africa, Western Asia, Caucasus, and Siberia

Fig buttercup is currently found in 20 northeastern states and in Oregon, Washington and several Canadian provinces. It occurs most commonly on moist, forested floodplains and other wet areas.

Europe

Ranunculus ficaria L.:
Canada (North America)
United States (North America)

Note: This information is based on publications available through Tropicos and may not represent the entire distribution. Tropicos does not categorize distributions as native or non-native.

introduced; B.C., Nfld., Ont., Que.; Conn., D.C., Ill., Ky., Md., Mass., Mich., Mo., N.J., N.Y., Ohio, Oreg., Pa., R.I., Tenn., Va., Wash., W.Va.; native to Europe.

Canada

Origin: Unknown/Undetermined

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Canada

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States

Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Subspecies ficaria has a wide distribution throughout the British Isles, becoming scarcer in Scotland. Subspecies bulbifer has a more eastern distribution, and is fairly rare around the western coasts of Britain. Both subspecies are widespread in Europe (2).

Fig buttercup, also called lesser celandine and pilewort, is a perennial herbaceous flowering plant that completes its life cycle during the winter and spring. The name is derived from Ficaria (Latin for fig) and verna (spring). Plants consist of a basal rosette of tender, succulent, dark green, shiny, stalked kidney- to heart-shaped leaves. Flowers are symmetrical, bright buttery yellow with a slightly darker center, have 8 (typical) to 12 petals, and are borne singly on delicate stalks that rise above the leaves. Tiny cream colored bulblets are produced in stem axils and become apparent later in the flowering period. Abundant fingerlike tubers are produced by the roots and are easily visible when plants are pulled up. Fruiting heads are globose composed of many achenes that are pubescent and usually abortive. When in bloom, large infestations of lesser celandine appear as a green carpet with yellow dots, spread across the forest floor. There are many varieties of lesser celandine including a double-flowered form with many petals and dark green leaves mottled with silvery markings.

NOTE: Fig buttercup may be confused with marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), a native plant found in wetland habitats in the eastern United States. Marsh marigold is a robust plant with glossy, rounded or kidney-shaped leaves and flowers on stalks that are 8 in (20.3 cm) or more in height and consist of five to nine deep yellow "petals" (actually sepals). Marsh marigold does not produce tubers or bulblets, nor does it form a continuous carpet of growth. Extreme care should be taken to correctly identify lesser celandine before undertaking any control measures to avoid impacts to this plant. It also resembles celandine (Chelidonium majus) and celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), both of which belong to the poppy family and can be distinguished from the invasive buttercup by having flowers with four petals.

• Plant: perennial herbaceous spring ephemeral plant with thick tuberous roots and bulblets.
• Leaves: shiny, dark green, kidney-shaped, and stalked.
• Flowers, fruits and seeds: glossy, butter-yellow flowers appear in March and April supported on delicate stalks above the leaves. Aboveground portions of lesser celandine die back by early June.
• Spreads: primarily by bulblets and underground tubers. The tiny cream-colored bulblets are attached to leafstalks and are easily dislodged from the plant. A mass of small, gray, fingerlike tuberous roots underlies each plant. Bulblets and tubers are easily carried downstream during flood events and may be unearthed and scattered by the digging activities of some animals.
• Look-alikes: marsh marigold (Caltha palustris), a native relative in the buttercup family, wood or celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum) and greater celandine (Chelidonium majus), native and non-native members of the poppy family, respectively.

Stems erect to decumbent, not rooting nodally, glabrous, not bulbous-based, spheric or ellipsoid bulbils sometimes formed in leaf axils. Tuberous roots present. Basal leaves simple and undivided, blades cordate to deltate or semicircular, 1.8-3.7 × 2-4 cm, base cordate, margins entire or crenate, apex rounded or obtuse. Flowers: receptacle glabrous; sepals spreading, saccate at extreme base, 4-9 × 3-6 mm, glabrous; petals yellow, 10-15 × 3-7 mm. Heads of achenes hemispheric, 4-5 × 6-8 mm; achenes 2.6-2.8 × 1.8-2 mm, pubescent; beak absent.

Ranunculus ficaria subsp. bulbifer Lambinon; R. ficaria subsp. calthifolius (Reichenbach) Arcangeli; R. ficaria var. bulbifera Albert

The non-native Lesser Celandine is apparently rare in Illinois, where naturalized plants have been observed in only two counties (see Distribution Map). In some northeastern states, it is more common and highly invasive. Unless vigorous methods are adopted to control its spread, it seems likely that Lesser Celandine will become more common in Illinois in the future. Lesser Celandine was introduced into North America from Eurasia as an ornamental and medicinal plant. Habitats consist of floodplain woodlands, grassy meadows, streambanks, roadside ditches, and moist waste areas. Both degraded and higher quality habitats can be invaded. Because of its ornamental flowers, Lesser Celandine is sometimes cultivated in gardens, although this practice has been made illegal in some northeastern states.

Fig buttercup occurs in low open woods, floodplains, meadows and waste places and seems to prefer sandy soils.

Shaded stream banks and moist disturbed areas; 0-300m.

Lesser celandine is found in a range of habitats, including woodlands, hedgerows, churchyards, road verges, meadows, in gardens and waste ground and on river banks (2) (3). Subspecies ficaria tends to thrive better in less disturbed habitats than subspecies bulbifer (3).

Little is known about floral-faunal relationships for this species in North America, although it is probably similar to other moisture-loving Ranunculus spp. (buttercups). The early-blooming flowers are cross-pollinated primarily by small bees, flies, and beetles. Both nectar and pollen are available as floral rewards to such visitors. Two leaf beetles are reported to feed on the foliage of buttercups

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / parasite
embedded sorus of Entyloma ficariae parasitises live leaf of Ficaria verna
Remarks: season: 4-5
Other: sole host/prey

Foodplant / parasite
sporangium of Peronospora ficariae parasitises live Ficaria verna
Other: sole host/prey

Foodplant / parasite
sporangium of Plasmopara pygmaea parasitises live leaf of Ficaria verna
Other: unusual host/prey

Foodplant / spot causer
amphigenous, immersed, black, subshining pycnidium of Septoria coelomycetous anamorph of Septoria ficariae causes spots on fading leaf of Ficaria verna
Remarks: season: 5-7

Foodplant / parasite
embedded sorus of Urocystis ficariae parasitises live flower of Ficaria verna

Foodplant / parasite
aecium of Uromyces dactylidis parasitises live petiole of Ficaria verna
Remarks: season: early Spring

Foodplant / parasite
telium of Uromyces ficariae parasitises live petiole of Ficaria verna
Remarks: season: 3-5
Other: sole host/prey

Foodplant / parasite
pycnium of Uromyces rumicis parasitises live Ficaria verna
Remarks: season: 3-5
Other: minor host/prey

Flowering spring (Apr-May).

Fig buttercup is a vernal or spring ephemeral perennial plant that spends much of the year (summer through early winter) underground as thickened, fingerlike tubers or underground stems. During the winter, leaves begin to emerge and photosynthesize in preparation for flowering. In the mid-Atlantic region, most flowering occurs from late winter through mid-spring (March through May), depending on conditions. After flowering, the above-ground portions begin to die back and the plants are mostly gone by June. Fig buttercup spreads primarily by vegetative means through abundant tubers and bulblets, each of which can grow into a new plant once separated from the parent plant. The prolific tubers may be unearthed and scattered by the digging activities of some animals, including well meaning human weed pullers, and spread to new sites during flood events.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 6
Specimens with Barcodes: 11
Species With Barcodes: 1

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 1
Specimens with Barcodes: 1
Species With Barcodes: 1

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNR - Unranked

Rounded Global Status Rank: TNR - Not Yet Ranked

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: TNR - Not Yet Ranked

Canada

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Rounded Global Status Rank: GNR - Not Yet Ranked

Not threatened (3).

This plant is not threatened.

Care should be taken to correctly identify fig buttercup before undertaking any control efforts to avoid removing native look-alike plants. For small infestations, clumps can be pulled by hand or dug up using a shovel, removing entire plants and as many tubers as possible. Use of systemic herbicides is also an option but should be done as early as possible to avoid impact to native plant species.

Conservation action is not required for this species.

The preference is full sun to light shade, moist conditions, and soil containing loam, silt, or calcareous sand. However, Lesser Celandine can survive in moderate shade (where it may fail to flower) and drier conditions. Because the seeds are often infertile (especially for ssp. bulbifer), this species is more readily propagated by its bulbils or division of its tuberous roots. It should be noted, however, that Lesser Celandine can spread aggressively and it is considered an invasive species in many parts of North America.

Fig buttercup is a vigorous growing vernal plant that forms large, dense patches in floodplain forests and some upland sites, displacing many native plant species, especially those with the similar spring-flowering life cycle. Spring ephemerals complete the reproductive part of their life cycle and most of their above-ground development in the increasing light of late winter and spring, before woody plants leaf out and shade the forest floor. Some examples of native spring ephemerals include bloodroot, wild ginger, spring beauty, harbinger-of-spring, twinleaf, squirrel-corn, trout lily, trilliums, Virginia bluebells, and many, many others. These plants provide critical nectar and pollen for native pollinators, and fruits and seeds for other native insects and wildlife species. Because fig buttercup emerges well in advance of the native species, it has a developmental advantage which allows it to establish and overtake areas rapidly.

Fig buttercup’s greatest threat is to native spring-flowering or “ephemeral” plants. It emerges in the winter in advance of most native species, giving it a great competitive advantage. Once established, it spreads rapidly, forming a solid green blanket across the ground through which native plants are unable to penetrate.