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Ranunculus aquatilis

Common name:	Water Crowfoot	Family:	Ranunculaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:	Ranunculus radicans (Ré vel.), Ranunculus heterophyllus (Weber.), Ranunculus diversifolius (Gilib.)
Known Hazards:	All parts of the plant are poisonous when fresh, the toxins are destroyed by heat or by drying[4, 10, 19, 21, 65]. The plant also has a strongly acrid juice that can cause blistering to the skin[65, 183].
Range:	Most of Europe, including Britain.
Habitat:	Ponds, ditches and streams throughout lowland Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	1	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Batrachium aquatile[B,P] R. aquatilis var. hispidulus[B,P] R. aquatilis var. typicus[B,P] R. trichophyllus var. hispidulus[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Batrachion [E], Common Water-crowfoot [L], Fijne Waterranonkel [D], White Water-crowfoot [B], Whitewater Crowfoot [P],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	aquatilis = living in water
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ranunculales. Buttercup family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Greece

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Perennial. It is hardy to zone 5 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to June. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Flies and bees. The plant is self-fertile. We rate it 1/5 for edibility and 1/5 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 and can grow in water.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Pond, Bog Garden.

Edible Uses

Leaves.

The entire plant has been boiled and eaten[257]. Some caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Antiasthmatic Antirheumatic Febrifuge.

The sub-species R. aquatilis capillaceus is used is used in India in the treatment of intermittent fevers, rheumatism and asthma[240].

Other Uses

None known

Cultivation details

A plant of boggy soils and shallow water, it prefers a loamy soil and a sunny position.
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes[54].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a tray of water in a cold frame. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer.
Division in spring. Very easy, larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found that it is better to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a cold frame until they are well established before planting them out in late spring or early summer.

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]
[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.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants 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.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[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.

[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.

[54] Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick Muller Ltd 1977 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Interesting reading.

[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.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.

[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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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
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