Meadow Buttercup

Ranunculus acris

Plant Data

Order:

Ranunculales

Family:

Ranunculaceae (Buttercup)

Type:

Flower

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Flower:

Yellow, 5 petals

5 glossy yellow petals on furrowed stalks, up to 2.5cm wide and with spreading sepals.

Fruit:

A cluster of achenes, no larger than half a centimetre across.

Leaves:

The palmate leaves are variable but have 3 to 7 deeply cut lobes. The end lobe is unstalked.

Maximum Size:

1 metre tall

Foraging Notes:

All parts of the flower are poisonous.
Never consume a wild plant unless you are 100% certain that it is safe to eat and you know that you have identified it correctly.

Aroma:

No fragrance.

Other Names:

Blister Plant, Butter Cress, Butter Daisy, Butter Flower, Butterrose, Common Buttercup, Common Crowflower, Common Crowfoot, Crazy Weed, Cuckooflower, Giant Buttercup, Gold Balls, Gold Cup, Gold Knobs, Gold Knots, Horse Gold, Kingcups, Meadow Ranunculus, Showy Buttercup, Tall Buttercup, Tall Crowfoot, Tall Field Buttercup, Upright Crowfoot, Upright Meadow Crowfoot, Water Milfoil, Yellow Gowan.

Frequency (UK):

Abundant

Habitats:

Ditches, farmland, gardens, grassland, meadows, parkland, riversides, roadsides, towns, wasteland, wetland, woodland.