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creeping buttercup

Ranunculus repens

Comments 1

Creeping Buttercup can produce bright yellow flowers in lawns during the early summer after the spring-blooming flowers, such as Claytonia virginica (Spring Beauty), have finished blooming for the year. However, it has the potential to escape into natural areas where it may displace native plants. There is a double form of Creeping Buttercup that has 10-20 petals per flower, rather than the usual 5. It also escapes into the wild, but is less common. Creeping Buttercup can be distinguished from other Ranunculus spp. by the presence of its stolons and the pale white blotches on the leaves. Other distinguishing features include the spreading hairy sepals (shorter than the petals and not sharply recurved) and the shape of the leaves.

National distribution 2

Canada
Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

United States
Origin: Exotic

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Unknown/Undetermined

Confidence: Confident

Synonym 3

Ranunculus repens var. brevistylus Maximowicz; R. repens f. polypetalus S. H. Li & Y. H. Huang.

Habitat 4

Meadows, borders of marshes, lawns, roadsides; 0-2500m.

Faunal associations 5

The nectar and pollen of the flowers attract short-tongued bees and flower flies primarily. Other visitors include long-tongued bees and beetles. The latter feeds on the pollen (or the flowers) and is less effective at pollination than the bees. The seeds are occasionally eaten by birds in limited amounts, while the foliage is usually avoided by mammalian herbivores because it contains a blistering agent that can irritate the gastrointestinal tract. Photographic Location

National nature serve conservation status 6

Canada
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable
United States
Rounded National Status Rank: NNA - Not Applicable

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29447427
  2. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29006856
  3. (c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/19785975
  4. (c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/21498568
  5. (c) John Hilty, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29447426
  6. (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/29006854

More Info

Range Map

(c) Discover Life and original sources, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC-SA)

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