Ivydene Gardens Box to Crowberry Wild Flower Families Gallery:
Buttercup Family

Click on Underlined Text in:-

Common Name to view that Plant Description Page
Botanical Name to link to Plant or Seed Supplier
Flowering Months to view photos
Habitat to view further Natural Habitat details and Botanical Society of the British Isles Distribution Map

Buttercup Family.
"Most buttercups have glossy yellow flowers, but the Water Crowfoots have white flowers. Seed is a close head of 1-seeded nutlets." from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Buttercup Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flower Months

Habitat

Adder's-tongue Spearwort

Ranunculus ophioglossifolius

June-August

An annual found in a highly specialised marshy habitat. It requires winter inundation, bare, wet mud for seedling establishment, reduced summer water levels and low competition. The substrate at the two extant sites is base-rich Lias clay, with most water input from rain. Lowland.

Alpine Meadow-Rue

Thalictrum alpinum

May-July

A small, rhizomatous perennial of mountain habitats. It is found on damp rock ledges, at the open edges of stony streams and flushes and in thin grassland. It is a good indicator of substrates which are at least slightly base-rich. From sea level in North Scotland, but generally above 300 m and reaching 1190 m on Ben Lawers (Mid Perth).

Flower 23 June

Single Leaf 23 June

Foliage 23 June

Form 23 June

Baneberry

Actaea spicata

May-June

A perennial herb of shaded sites on limestone. Its habitats differ superficially, being found in the grikes of limestone pavement, on rock ledges, and in deciduous woodland, but all have the same characteristics of shade, low competition and a cool, protected root run. 0-450 m (Hawkswick Clowder, Mid-W. Yorks.).

Thesaurus of agricultural organisms: pests, weeds and diseases, Volumes I and II. was originally produced as a set of instruction manuals to Derwent's PESTDOC information service.... it was essential to establish a reference source which would help to standardise the many variations in the common names and Latin names used for agricultural organisms....to this end, this set of volumes was produced between 1974 and 177 which listed the core vocabulary used to index organisms in the PESTDOC database.

Entries are arranged in alphabetical order by approved Latin name. Latin name synonyms and the most frequently used Common Names in English, French and German are also included.

Blue Anemone

Anemone apennina

April

A rhizomatous perennial, found in woodland, open scrub, under park trees, in churchyards and near former habitations. Like the native A. nemorosa, it requires light shade. Lowland.

Bulbous Buttercup

Ranunculus bulbosus

March-June

A perennial herb with a corm-like stem-base, found on well-drained, neutral or calcareous soils in meadows, pastures and dunes. It is absent from highly productive, fertile grassland and from strongly acidic soils. Generally lowland, but reaching 580 m on Dartmoor (S. Devon) and at Hartside (Westmorland).

Flower 24 April

Flowers October

Foliage June

Form June

Celery-leaved Buttercup

Ranunculus sceleratus

May-September

Most Poisonous member of genus Ranunculus. An annual of shallow water or wet, disturbed, nutrient-rich mud, especially at the edges of ponds, ditches, streams or rivers which are poached by drinking livestock. It is salt-tolerant and frequent on grazed estuarine marshes. Its seeds are long-lived and plants can re-appear following disturbance after many years of absence. Lowland.

Columbine

Aquilegia vulgaris

May-July

Native populations of this perennial are found on calcareous soil over limestone rocks in England and Wales. It typically grows in woodland glades and open scrub, by woodland rides and streamsides, in damp grassland and fen, and on scree slopes. Garden escapes can be naturalised in quarries, on roadsides, railway banks and old walls. 0-470 m (Sandbed Gill, Cumberland).

Flower 31 May in Kent

Flowers 31 May in Kent

Foliage 31 May in Kent

Form 31 May in Kent

Common Meadow-Rue

Thalictrum flavum

June-August

A rhizomatous perennial of fens, ditches and streamsides, and tall vegetation in wet meadows, always found where the substrate or water is base-rich. It is also recorded from open fen carr. Lowland.

Corn Buttercup

Ranunculus arvensis

June-July

An annual of arable land on loams, sands, clays and chalk. The seeds are long-lived, and plants sometimes reappear on disturbed waste ground, or in gardens or new roadside verges on former arable land. Lowland.

Creeping Buttercup

Ranunculus repens

May onwards

A perennial herb with creeping stems, R. repens has a very wide ecological tolerance, but is most typical of disturbed habitats on damp or wet nutrient-rich soils, including woodland rides, ditch sides, farm gateways, gardens and waste ground. It also occurs in damp or periodically flooded grasslands, in dune-slacks and on lake shores. It is absent from very acidic soils. Generally lowland, but reaching 1035 m on Snowdon (Caerns.).

Flower May

Flowers June

Foliage July

Form July

Creeping Spearwort

Ranunculus reptans

June-July

A stoloniferous perennial herb of lake shores, growing on gravel or silty sand. At the Loch of Strathbeg (N. Aberdeen), where it has been known since 1876, it grows in open vegetation in a zone of Eleocharis palustris which is intermittently exposed above the water level in summer. Lowland.

Flower 9 May. Photo by BritishFlora

Flowers 9 May. Photo by BritishFlora

Foliage 9 May. Photo by BritishFlora

Form 9 May. Photo by BritishFlora

French Meadow-Rue

Thalictrum aquilegifolium

May-June

A shortly rhizomatous perennial herb which occurs naturalised on roadsides and railway banks and also as a casual on tips. Lowland.

Globe Flower

Trollius europaeus

May-August

A perennial herb of cool, damp habitats, including hay meadows, stream and river banks, lake margins, open woodland and rock ledges. It prefers basic soils, and is often associated with limestone. It is sensitive to grazing, but can persist as small, non-flowering plants in the uplands. 0-1005 m (Stuic, S. Aberdeen).

Flower june

Seed-head 26 June

Foliage from Westmoreland in
31 May

Form 18 May

Goldilocks Buttercup

Ranunculus auricomus

April-May

A perennial, characteristic of deciduous woodland on chalk, limestone and other basic soils. It also grows in scrub, on roadsides and in churchyards, and rarely on open moorland sheltered by boulders and on montane ledges. It is apomictic, showing considerable variation throughout Europe, though the agamospecies have not yet been formally described in our area. Generally lowland, but reaching 1090 m on Aonach Beag (Westerness).

Greater Spearwort

Ranunculus lingua

June-August

A stoloniferous perennial herb which grows in fens and marshes, on ditch, canal and pond edges, around reservoirs and in flooded gravel-pits and quarries. It is normally found in base-rich, still or slowly flowing water. Lowland.

Flower June

Flowers June

Foliage June

Form June

Green Hellebore

Helleborus viridis

March-May

A perennial herb of rather shady habitats, usually on chalk or limestone, found in woodland glades, rocky dingles and old hedge banks. Populations are often small, but persist over many years without obvious changes in numbers. Lowland.

Flower 21 February

Foliage from Chatham in Kent on 24 March

Form from Stalisfield on 21 April

Form 25 March

Hairy Buttercup

Ranunculus sardous

May-July

An annual of damp coastal pastures, poached pond edges and wet hollows, road verges, farm tracks and gateways. It is generally restricted to thin turf or disturbed areas on damp, neutral, moderately fertile soils. Lowland.

Flower 17 June

Foliage 17 June

Leaf 17 June

Form 17 June

Jersey Buttercup

(Fan-leaved Buttercup)

Ranunculus flabellatus

(Ranunculus paludosus)

May

A winter-green perennial herb which dies down to spindle-shaped tubers after flowering in May. It grows in grassland which is wet in winter, but sun-baked in summer. The number of flowering plants in a population may vary considerably from year to year. Lowland.

Flower June

Flowers June

Foliage June

Form June

Larkspur

(Rocket Larkspur, Annual Delpinium)

Delphinium orientale

(Consolida orientalis, Consolida ajacis, Consolida ambigua)

July onwards

An annual species found on waste ground, rubbish tips and in cultivated fields. As an arable weed it usually occurs on dry soils in chalky or sandy areas. Lowland.

Flower April

Flowers 3 April

Foliage from Borough Green 31 March

Form 3 April

Lesser Meadow-Rue

Thalictrum minus

June-August

A morphologically variable, perennial herb found in calcareous or other base-rich habitats where competition is low, including fixed dunes, scrubby banks, rocky lake and river edges, limestone and serpentine cliffs, limestone grassland and pavement and montane rock ledges. It also occurs in other habitats, including churchyards, hedge banks and roadsides, as a garden escape. 0-855 m (Snowdon, Caerns.).

Flower

Flowers July

Foliage section

Foliage

Lesser Spearwort

Ranunculus flammula

June onwards

A perennial herb of wet habitats, particularly those with seasonal water level fluctuations. It is found in springs and flushes, around ponds, on lake shores, streamsides, in dune-slacks, marshes, water-meadows, flood pastures, bogs and in ditches and track ruts. It usually grows in oligotrophic or mesotrophic water over neutral to acid substrates. 0-930 m (Carnedd Llewelyn, Caerns.).

Flower 24 May

Foliage 28 June

Leaf 28 June

Form 28 June

Marsh Marigold

Caltha palustris

March-June

A perennial herb of various wet habitats, usually neutral to base-rich rather than very acidic, including Alnus carr, the edges of rivers, streams, canals, lakes and ponds, ditches and winter-wet meadows and pastures. A small form, var. radicans, is found in mountain flushes and lake shores in N. & W. Britain and Ireland. 0-1100 m (Braeriach and Lochnagar, S. Aberdeen).

Flower April

Flowers from Sheffield Park on 20 April

Foliage 26 June

Form from Sheffield Park on 20 April

Meadow Buttercup

Ranunculus acris

May onwards

A perennial herb of damp meadows and pastures on a wide variety of soils, only avoiding very dry or acid conditions. It is a characteristic plant of unimproved hay and water-meadow communities, and now of relict herb-rich fragments on damp road verges; it also grows on dune grassland, in montane flushes and in tall-herb communities on rock ledges. It is unpalatable to grazing animals, but easily controlled in intensively managed pastures. 0-1220 m (Cairntoul, S. Aberdeen). Damp Grassland

Flower May

Flower Bud June

Leaf June

Form June

Monkshood

Aconitum anglicum (Syn. Aconitum napellus)

May-June

These tuberous perennial herbs grow on calcareous to slightly acidic soil along stream banks, often in shade, in damp, open woodland and sometimes in damp meadows, and as aliens on roadsides, waste ground and rubbish tips. Generally lowland, but reaching 460 m at Quarnford (Staffs.).

Flower

Foliage June

Form

Form June

Mousetail

Myosurus minimus

April-July

An annual of seasonally flooded, nutrient-rich soils in areas disturbed by machinery or animals, such as hollows on ploughed land, rutted tracks and gateways in pastures. Its seeds appear to be long-lived. Lowland.

Seed-Head starting from Flower May

Developed Seed-Head May

Foliage May

Form May

Pasque Flower

Pulsatilla vulgaris

Syn. Anemone pulsatilla

April-May

A perennial rhizomatous herb of species-rich turf on the slopes of chalk or oolite escarpments, and the banks of ancient earthworks, usually with a South or South-West aspect. Plants produce viable seed, but seedling establishment is rare. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers from Wisley in April

Foliage

Form

Pheasant's Eye

Adonis annua

June onwards

An arable weed of dry soils on chalk and limestone, also recorded from tracks, chalk pits and other disturbed habitats. Seed production is low but there is a long-lived soil seed bank. Most populations are small and restricted to field edges. Lowland.

Flower June

Seed-Head June

Foliage June

Form June

Purple Clematis

Clematis viticella

July-September

A deciduous climber or scrambling perennial, available to gardeners in a wide range of variously coloured cultivars. It is found as a persistent escape in hedgerows and on wasteland, and as a relic of cultivation. Reproduction by seed has not been reported. Lowland.

Pyrenean Columbine

Aquilegia pyrenaica

June

This small alpine herb is naturalised only on rock-ledges at the head of Caenlochan Glen, Angus, at an altitude of c. 900 m. It is a very rare casual elsewhere.

River Water-Crowfoot

Ranunculus fluitans

March-August

This is a perennial species which grows in large, rapidly flowing rivers with a stable substrate. It is usually found in base-rich and meso-eutrophic water. In Ireland, it is confined to a single, now locally highly polluted, river. Lowland.

Flower in Hooke, Dorset June

Foliage in Hooke, Dorset

Leaf in Hooke, Dorset

Form in Hooke, Dorset

Round-leaved Crowfoot

Ranunculus omiophyllus

April-September

A small annual or short-lived perennial which grows in shallow water or on wet soil. Typical sites include the margins of ponds and ditches, flushes, damp depressions, gateways and tracks in pastures and on heathland, and the sheltered backwaters of rivers. Unlike R. hederaceus, it is confined to acidic, mesotrophic or oligotrophic soils. 0-1005 m (Carnedd Llewelyn, Caerns.).

Saint Martins Buttercup

Ranunculus marginatus

April-May

A small annual, found as a naturalised weed of bulb-fields in the Isles of Scilly, and as a rare grain, bird-seed and wild-flower mixture alien elsewhere. Lowland.

Scilly Buttercup

(Rough-fruited Buttercup)

Ranunculus muricatus

February-May

An erect annual found naturalised as a weed of cultivated ground in S.W. England, particularly in bulb-fields and gardens in the Isles of Scilly, and as a bird-seed, grain and wool alien elsewhere. Lowland.

Small-Flowered Buttercup

Ranunculus parviflorus

May-July

An annual of dry disturbed habitats on a range of neutral and calcareous soils. Typical sites include broken turf on cliff edges, open, droughted slopes and banks, rabbit scrapes, tracks, poached gateways, building sites and gardens. The seeds appear to be long-lived, and populations may reappear after disturbance or persist for many years. Lowland.

Flower on furrowed stalks May

Flower May

Foliage from South Dartmoor May

Form May

Stinking Hellebore

Helleborus foetidus

March-May

A short-lived perennial herb of shallow calcareous soils. It is a poor competitor, and intolerant of deep shade, so is usually found in small colonies in woodland glades or open scrub, on scree slopes, rock ledges, hedge banks, and as an introduction in churchyards. Adult plants near senescence (4-5 years old) are typically found with a cohort of seedlings. Lowland.

Flower from Halling in March

Flowers February

Foliage from North Downs in Kent on 14 March

Form from North Downs in Kent on 14 March

Traveller's Joy

Clematis vitalba

July-September

A climbing perennial with liana-like woody stems, often covering large areas on hedge banks, hedges and walls, trees and scrub, sand dunes, disused quarry faces and ruins. It is a classic railway plant. On base-rich soils, or utilising lime mortar, the plant can form virtual monocultures. The familiar feathered propagules, `Old Man`s Beard`, disperse readily, and often colonise new cuttings or banks. 0-305 m (N. of Matlock, Derbys.).

Fruit October

Flowers 10 August

Foliage

Form in January

Thread-leaved Water-Crowfoot

Ranunculus trichophyllus

March-August

A small annual or perennial which grows in shallow, still or very slowly flowing water. It is most frequent in ponds, dune-slacks and drainage ditches, but it is also found in larger sites if they are sheltered. It tolerates a range of water chemistry but is most frequent in mesotrophic or eutrophic water. 0-310 m (Alston Moor, Cumberland).

Flower May

Flowers

Foliage from Richborough 20 May

Form May

Three-lobed Crowfoot

Ranunculus tripartitus

(Ranunculus lutarius, Ranunculus obtusiflorus, Ranunculus petiveri)

March-June

An annual of shallow water bodies over base- and nutrient-poor substrates, in open sites which are flooded in winter but summer-dry. In S.E. England it is also found in pools in coppiced woodland. Lowland to 300 m at Belstone (N. Devon).

Variegated Monkshood

Aconitum cammarum

July-August

A perennial with annually renewed tuberous rhizomes, found established in damp places on a range of soils, usually in shaded sites or in tall vegetation. Its habitats are more varied than those of other Aconitum taxa and include damp roadsides and pastures, waste ground and moist woodland. 0?460 m (Quarnford, Staffs.).

Various-leaved Crowfoot

(Pond Water-crowfoot)

Ranunculus peltatus

(Ranunculus floribundus, Ranunculus spaerospermus)

March-August

This perennial or sometimes annual species grows in slow-flowing streams and rivers, coastal lagoons, shallow lakes, ditches, ponds and dune-slacks. It is difficult to define its ecological preferences, as it grows in the upper reaches of highly calcareous rivers but in some areas favours base-poor waters; it has a broad trophic range. Generally lowland, but reaching 500 m at Dogber Tarn (Westmorland).

Flower 6 June

Foliage 6 June

Leaf 6 June

Form 6 June

Virgins Bower

Clematis flammula

August-September

This is a scrambling or weakly climbing perennial. It is occasionally found naturalised on coastal cliffs, shingle beaches and dunes, and rarely inland. Lowland.

Water Crowfoot

(Common Water-crowfoot)

Ranunculus aquatilis

March-August

This is an annual or short-lived perennial which grows in shallow water in marshes, ponds and ditches, and at the edge of slow-flowing streams and sheltered lakes. It occurs chiefly in water which is eutrophic and at least mildly base-rich, and is favoured by a degree of disturbance. Generally lowland, but reaching 445 m at Small Water (Cumberland

Flower 20 May

Flower with its stem out of water 20 May

Flowers in stream in Isle of Sheppey June

Form in Richborough 20 May

Winter Aconite

Eranthis hyemalis

January-March

A small, tuberous perennial, dying back in summer. It is naturalised, sometimes in large numbers, in open woodland, grassland and scrub associated with habitation, under park trees, in gardens and on road verges. Lowland

Flower from Darenth in Kent on 5 March

Flower 21 February

Seed from Darenth in Kent on 5 March

Foliage from Darenth in Kent on 5 March

Wood Anemone

Anemone nemorosa

March-May

A rhizomatous perennial, found in woodland, on streamsides, under Pteridium, on hedge banks, in heathy grassland, on open moorland, in scree and on limestone pavement. It has a wide pH tolerance, but in woodlands it is most abundant where the vigour of more competitive species is reduced by acidity, waterlogging or regular coppicing. 0-1190 m (Ben Lawers, Mid Perth).

Flower from Kent 11 April

Seeds from Farningham Wood 30 May

Foliage from Ham Street in 24 April

Form from Ham Street in 24 April

Wood Goldilocks

(Goldilocks Buttercup)

Ranunculus auricomus

April-May

A perennial, characteristic of deciduous woodland on chalk, limestone and other basic soils. It also grows in scrub, on roadsides and in churchyards, and rarely on open moorland sheltered by boulders and on montane ledges. It is apomictic, showing considerable variation throughout Europe, though the agamospecies have not yet been formally described in our area. Generally lowland, but reaching 1090 m on Aonach Beag (Westerness).

Flower June

Foliage May

Leaf June

Form June

Yellow Anemone

Anemone ranunculoides

March-May

A spring-flowering rhizomatous perennial herb naturalised in shady places, such as in woodland and along paths. Lowland.

"When restoration work was begun at Pleasant Valley Conservancy in Wisconsin State of the USA there were a few fine prairie remnants as well as some degraded savannas, woodlands, and wetlands. However, grazing and other agricultural activities had caused a marked loss in plant species.

In addition to removing a large number of invasive plants, we worked hard to increase the diversity of native plant species. This work has been quite successful. From an early estimate of about 170 native plant species, our list has grown to over 400 species.

Pleasant Valley Conservancy welcomes the help of volunteers in its restoration work. Two activities that make considerable use of volunteers are controlled burns and seed collecting and planting. Burns are conducted in both the spring (March-April) and Fall (November). Seed collecting is a major activity from late August through early November. Planting is usually done in the spring after burns are completed."