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Ranunculus acris
| Common name: |
Meadow Buttercup |
Family: |
Ranunculaceae |
| Author: |
L. |
Botanical references: |
17 |
| Synonyms: |
|
| Known Hazards: |
All parts of the plant are poisonous, the toxins can be destroyed by heat or by drying[4, 10, 13, 19, 62, 65]. The plant has a strongly acrid juice that can cause blistering to the skin[65, 183]. |
| Range: |
Europe, including Britain, from Iceland south and east to Spain, through Asia to China and Japan. |
| Habitat: |
Damp meadows and pastures, usually on calcareous or circum-neutral soils[4, 17]. Also found on damp rock ledges, in gullies and occasionally on mountain top detritus[17]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
1 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 2 |
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Altindugme [E], Gold Cup [H], Grenouillette [H], Mao Chin [E], Mao Ken [E], Meadow Buttercup [L], Scherpe Boterbloem [D], Statice [E], Tall Buttercup [P,B,L], Upright Meadow Crowfoot [H], Wenwort [E], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
acris = sharp, pungent;
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA
Plants Database |
|
Order: Ranunculales. Buttercup family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Britain; China; Europe; France; Turkey
|
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA
PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: Minnesota. |
Physical Characteristics
Perennial growing to 1m. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies, beetles and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies).
We rate it 1/5 for edibility and
2/5 for medicinal use.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils.
The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils.
It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade.
It requires moist or wet soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Meadow, Lawn, Bog Garden.Edible Uses
Leaves.
Leaves - cooked and used as greens[257]. Some caution is advised, see
the notes above on toxicity.
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Acrid; Anodyne; Antispasmodic; Diaphoretic; Rubefacient; Warts.
The whole plant is acrid, anodyne, antispasmodic, diaphoretic and
rubefacient[4, 21]. The plant has been crushed and applied as a poultice to
the chest to relieve colds and chest pains[257].
The fresh leaves have been used as a rubefacient in the treatment of
rheumatism etc[222].
The flowers and the leaves have been crushed and sniffed as a treatment for
headaches[257].
An infusion of the roots has been used in the treatment of diarrhoea[257].
The poulticed root is also rubefacient and was applied to boils and
abscess[222, 257].
The plant sap has been used to remove warts[4]. The sap has also been used
as a sedative[257].
The flowers are used in Tibetan medicine, where they are considered to have
an acrid taste and a heating potency[241]. Their use is said to promote heat,
dissolve tumours and draw out serous fluids[241]. They are used in the
treatment of disorders brought about by rotting sores or wounds[241].
Use with caution[21], the whole plant is extremely acrid and can cause
intense pain and burning of the mouth, mucous membranes etc[222].
Other Uses
None known
Cultivation details
Prefers a moist loamy soil[1]. Grows well in marshy soils[24].
Plants are hardy to at least -20°c[187].
A good plant for the summer meadow[24]. It spreads rapidly by means of
runners and is often a weed in lawns or gardens.
A polymorphic species, there is at least one named variety. 'Flore Pleno' is
a double-flowered form that does not spread by runners and so is unlikely to
become a nuisance in the garden[187].
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially
legumes[54].
Propagation
Seed - sow spring in situ. You are very unlikely to need to encourage
this plant.
Division in spring. Very easy, though probably totally unnecessary, larger
divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions.
Cultivars
- ''
- There are some named forms for this species, but these have been developed for their ornamental value and not for their other uses. Unless you particularly require the special characteristics of any of these cultivars, we would generally recommend that you grow the natural species for its useful properties. We have, therefore, not listed the cultivars in this database[K].
Suppliers
For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.
Web References
- Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
- [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
- [L] Scientific and Common Names (some photos)
from Lepidoptera and some other life forms
- [E] Ethnobotany Data
(common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
- [B] Data
(Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
- [G] Data
(Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
- [C] Taxon data.
from the CalFlora database.
- [P] Data.
(uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
- [HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database
References for the family Ranunculaceae.
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.
Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [200]).
[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
[10] Altmann. H. Poisonous Plants and Animals. Chatto and Windus 1980 ISBN 0-7011-2526-8
A small book, reasonable but not very detailed.
[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.
[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.
[19] Stary. F. Poisonous Plants. Hamlyn 1983 ISBN 0-600-35666-3
Not very comprehensive, but easy reading.
[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.
[54] Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick Muller Ltd 1977 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Interesting reading.
[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.
[65] Frohne. D. and Pfänder. J. A Colour Atlas of Poisonous Plants. Wolfe 1984 ISBN 0723408394
Brilliant. Goes into technical details but in a very readable way. The best work on the subject that I've come across so far.
[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.
[222] Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990 ISBN 0395467225
A concise book dealing with almost 500 species. A line drawing of each plant is included plus colour photographs of about 100 species. Very good as a field guide, it only gives brief details about the plants medicinal properties.
[241] Tsarong. Tsewang. J. Tibetan Medicinal Plants Tibetan Medical Publications, India 1994 ISBN 81-900489-0-2
A nice little pocket guide to the subject with photographs of 95 species and brief comments on their uses.
[257] Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9
Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.
Readers Comments
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Bibliography
Plant information taken from the
Plants For A Future -
Species Database.
Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963 This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Ranunculus+acris
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Ranunculus+acris
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