Lesser celandine

Lesser celandine
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
Order:	Ranunculales
Family:	Ranunculaceae
Genus:	Ficaria
Species:	F. ficaria
Binomial name
Ficaria verna Huds. 1762
Synonyms
Synonyms Caltha hiranoi Tamura Chelidonium minus Garsault [Invalid] Ficaria ambigua Boreau Ficaria aperta Schur Ficaria boryi Heldr. ex Nyman Ficaria bulbifera (Á.Löve & D.Löve) Holub Ficaria communis Dum.Cours. Ficaria degenii Harv. Ficaria ficaria (L.) H.Karst. [Invalid] Ficaria holubyi Schur Ficaria intermedia Schur Ficaria peloponnesiaca Nyman Ficaria polypetala Gilib. [Invalid] Ficaria pumila Velen. ex Bornm. Ficaria ranunculiflora Moench ex St.-Lag. Ficaria ranunculoides Roth [Illegitimate] Ficaria robertii F.W.Schultz Ficaria rotundifolia Schur Ficaria stepporum P.A.Smirn. Ficaria transsilvanica Schur Ficaria varia Otsch. Ficaria vulgaris J.St.-Hil. Ranunculus ficaria L.

Ficaria verna, (formerly Ranunculus ficaria L.) commonly known as lesser celandine or pilewort, is a low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae native to Europe and west 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. Emerging in late winter with flowers appearing March through May, its appearance across the landscape is regarded by many as a harbinger of spring.

Lesser celandine is a hairless perennial, with spirally-arranged cordate dark-green leaves without stipules. It produces actinomorphic (radially symmetrical) flowers with 3 sepaloid tepals and 7-12 glossy yellow petaloid tepals. Double flowered varieties also occur. The stamens and carpels are numerous, and the fruit is a single-seeded achene with a very short style. In several sub-species, tubers are formed in the leaf axils after flowering.

Ficaria verna sensu lato is native to central Europe, north Africa and the Caucasus. It is not native in North America.

Lesser celandine grows on land that is seasonally wet or flooded, especially in sandy soils, but is not found in permanently waterlogged sites. In both shaded woodlands and open areas, Ficaria verna begins growth in the winter when temperatures are low and days are short. The plants mostly propagate and spread vegetatively, although some subspecies are capable of producing up to 73 seeds per flower.Germination of seeds begins in the spring, and continues into summer. Seedlings remain small for their first year, producing only one or two leaves until the second year.

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Wikipedia