Lesser Celandine

Ficaria verna

"Ficaria verna" 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.
Fig Buttercup - Ficaria verna A low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with 7-12 bright yellow, glossy petals. Once established, it spreads rapidly, forming a solid green blanket across the ground through which native plants are unable to penetrate. It is native to Europe and west Asia. It has been 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. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/58249/fig_buttercup.html Ficaria verna,Geotagged,Lesser celandine,Spring,United States,fig buttercup

Appearance

Lesser celandine is a hairless perennial, with spirally-arranged cordate dark-green leaves without stipules. It produces actinomorphic 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.:118 It blooms between March and May in the UK.
Fig Buttercup - Ficaria verna A low-growing, hairless perennial flowering plant in the buttercup family. It has fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with 7-12 bright yellow, glossy petals. Once established, it spreads rapidly, forming a solid green blanket across the ground through which native plants are unable to penetrate. It is native to Europe and west Asia. It has been 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. Habitat: Stream bank Ficaria,Ficaria verna,Geotagged,Lesser celandine,United States,Winter

Distribution

"Ficaria verna" "sensu lato" is native to central Europe, north Africa and the Caucasus. It is not native in North America.
Fig Buttercup - Ficaria verna Habitat: Mesic forest Ficaria,Ficaria verna,Fig Buttercup,Geotagged,Lesser celandine,Spring,United States

Behavior

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.

Growth and reproduction is poor in dry or acidic conditions, though the plants can handle drought well once dormant. By emerging before the forest canopy leafs out, "Ficaria verna" is able to take advantage of the higher levels of sunlight reaching the forest floor during late winter and early spring. By late spring, second year plants quickly age as daylight hours lengthen and temperatures rise. By the end of May, foliage has died back and plants enter a six month dormancy phase.

If disturbed, separation of the plant's numerous basal tubers is an efficient means of vegetative propagation. The plants are easily spread if the prolific tubers are unearthed and scattered by digging activities of some animals and humans. Erosion and flood events are particularly effective means of spread, as the plants are very successful at colonizing low-lying floodplains once deposited.

"Ficaria verna" exists in both diploid and tetraploid forms which are very similar in appearance. However, the tetraploid types prefer more shady locations and can develop up to 24 bulbils at the base of the stalk. Subspecies "F. verna bulbilifera," "F. verna chrysocephalus," and "F. verna ficariiformis" are tetraploid and capable of colonizing new areas much faster because of bulbil production. Subspecies "F. verna calthifolia" and "F. verna verna" are diploid and hybrids between subspecies often create sterile triploid forms.
Lesser celandine Bulgaria,Ficaria verna,Geotagged,Lesser celandine,Ranunculus ficaria,Spring

Habitat

In many parts of the Eastern and Northwestern United States and Canada, lesser celandine is cited as an invasive species. It poses a threat to native wildflowers, especially those ephemeral flowers with a spring-flowering lifecycle. Since "Ficaria verna" emerges well before most native species, it has a developmental advantage which allows it to establish and dominate natural areas rapidly. It is mainly a problem in forested floodplains, where it forms extensive mats, but can occur on upland sites as well. Once established, native plants are displaced and ground is left barren and susceptible to erosion, from June to February, during the plant's six-month dormancy phase.

In the United States, where lesser celandine is considered a plant pest to gardens, lawns, and natural areas, many governmental agencies have made great effort attempting to slow the spread of this species with limited success. As of 2014, the species was reported to be invasive and established in 25 states. USDA APHIS considers "Ficaria verna" to be a high risk weed which could spread across 79 percent of the United States, anticipating possible impacts to threatened and endangered riparian species. The U.S. National Park Service's Plant Conservation Alliance recommends avoiding planting lesser celandine, and instead planting native ephemeral wildflowers such as "Asarum canadense", bloodroot, the native twinleaf, and various species of "Trillium" as alternatives.
Lesser celandine pretty, but can be invasive... Ficaria verna,Geotagged,Lesser celandine,Spring,United States

Defense

All plants of the buttercup family contain a compound known as protoanemonin When the plant is wounded, the unstable glucoside ranunculin turns into the toxin protoanemonin. Contact with damaged or crushed "Ficaria" leaves can cause itching, rashes or blistering on the skin or mucosa. Ingesting the toxin can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, spasms, or paralysis. In one case, a patient experienced acute hepatitis and jaundice when taking untreated lesser celandine extracts internally as an herbal remedy for hemorrhoids.

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