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Ranunculus bulbosus
| Common name: |
Bulbous 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 Scandanavia south and east to N. Africa and Greece. |
| Habitat: |
Meadows, lawns, dry pastures, grassy slopes and fixed dunes, preferring a calcareous sub-strata[17]. |
| Edibility Rating (1-5): |
1 | Medicinal Rating (1-5): | 2 |
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. |
| R. bulbosus var. dissectus[B,P]
R. bulbosus var. valdepubens[B,P]
|
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. |
| Bulbous Buttercup [H,L], Buttercup [E], Crowfoot [H,E], Knolboterbloem [D], St Anthony's Turnip [P], St Anthony's-turnip [B], |
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets |
|
bulbosus = bulbous;
|
| Systematics: | From a USDA Plants Database |
|
Order: Ranunculales. Buttercup family
|
| Other Range Info: |
From the Ethnobotany Database |
|
Britain; Chile; Us
|
| Noxious, Invasive and Injurious Weeds | From USDA PLANTS database, Weeds Australia
, DEFRA Injurious Weeds | | Listed as noxious/invasive for: USA Invasive. |
Physical Characteristics
Perennial growing to 0.3m by 1m at a fast rate. It is not frost tender. It is in flower from March to June. 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 soil.
Habitats and Possible Locations
Meadow, Lawn.Edible Uses
Leaves; Root.
Leaves - cooked. A famine food used when all else fails[177], and I
would rather give it a miss even then[K]!
Root - must be dried beforehand and thoroughly cooked[105, 183]. When
boiled, the roots are said to become so mild as to be eatable[2], though
personally, I would rather give this one a miss as well[K]. See the notes
above on toxicity.
Medicinal Uses
Disclaimer
Acrid; Anodyne; Antispasmodic; Diaphoretic; Rubefacient; VD.
The whole plant, and especially the sap, is acrid, anodyne,
antispasmodic, diaphoretic, rubefacient[4, 21]. It was at one time rubbed on
the skin by beggars in order to produce open sores and thereby excite
sympathy[4].
The root has been placed in a tooth cavity to act as a painkiller[257].
A decoction of the plant has been used in the treatment of VD[257].
Use this remedy with caution, see the notes above on toxicity[21].
Other Uses
None known
Cultivation details
Prefers a moist loamy soil[1].
A common weed of lawns and gardens, it can be very difficult to eradicate
when established[4]. It is a polymorphic species[17] and there is at least
one named variety which has been selected for its ornamental value[187].
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially
legumes[54].
Propagation
Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. This species is a common weed and
doesn't really need any help from us.
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.
- [PHARM] Phytochemical Data
(common names, uses, countries) from Dr Duke's Phytochemical 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.
[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.
[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]).
[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and 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.
[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.
[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.
[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
[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.
[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+bulbosus
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