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Ranunculus ficaria

Common name: Lesser Celandine Family: Ranunculaceae
Author: L. Botanical references: 17
Synonyms: Ficaria verna (Huds.), Ficaria ranunculoides (Moench.)
Known Hazards: All parts of the plant are poisonous. The toxins are unstable and of low toxicity, they are easily destroyed by heat or by drying[19]. The sap can cause irritation to the skin[65].
Range: Nost of Europe, including Britain, to W. Asia.
Habitat: Woods, scrub, meadows, by streams etc, avoiding acid soils[9, 17].
Edibility Rating (1-5): 1Medicinal Rating (1-5):2

Other Possible Synonyms:From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
Ficaria ficaria[P] R. ficaria var. ficaria[P] R. verna[H]
Other Common Names:From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
Basurotu [E], Blameye [E], Celidonia Menor [E], Fig Buttercup [P,B], Figwort [H], Gewoon Speenkruid [D], Lesser Celandine [H,L], Pilewort [H], Small Celandine [H], Smallwort [H], Warzenhahnenfuss [E], Wenwort [E],
Systematics:From a USDA Plants Database
Order: Ranunculales. Buttercup family
Other Range Info: From the Ethnobotany Database
Belgium Britain Germany Spain Turkey Us

Physical Characteristics

Perennial growing to 0.2m by 0.2m at a fast rate. It is not frost tender. It is in leaf from January to June, in flower from March to May. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, flies and beetles. 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, Woodland, Dappled Shade, Shady Edge, Ground Cover.

Edible Uses

Condiment Leaves Root.

Young leaves in spring - raw or cooked as a potherb[2, 74, 105, 183]. The first leaves in spring make an excellent salad[9]. The leaves, stalks and buds can be used like spinach[9], whilst the blanched stems are also eaten[46, 183]. The leaves turn poisonous as the fruit matures[74]. Caution is advised regarding the use of this plant for food, see the notes above on toxicity.
Bulbils - cooked and used as a vegetable[9, 105]. The bulbils are formed at the leaf axils and also at the roots[9, 183]. Caution is advised, see the notes above on toxicity.
The flower buds make a good substitute for capers[183].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Astringent.

Lesser celandine has been used for thousands of years in the treatment of haemorrhoids and ulcers[254]. It is not recommended for internal use because it contains several toxic components[254].
The whole plant, including the roots, is astringent[4, 165, 238]. It is harvested when flowering in March and April and dried for later use[4]. It is widely used as a remedy for piles and is considered almost a specific[4, 238]. An infusion can be taken internally or it can be made into an ointment and used externally[4, 238]. It is also applied externally to perineal damage after childbirth[238]. Some caution is advised because it can cause irritation to sensitive skins[244].

We have a more details factsheet on the history and medicinal use of this plant. Email webmaster@pfaf.org for details.

Other Uses

Ground cover Teeth.

The flower petals are an effective tooth cleaner[60]. ( See notes at top of the page before using the petals)
The plant often forms dense carpets when grown in the shade and can therefore be used as a ground cover though they die down in early summer. This should be done with some caution, however, since the plant can easily become an unwanted and aggressive weed in the garden[K].

Cultivation details

Prefers a moist loamy neutral to alkaline soil in full sun or shade[1, 238].
A very common and invasive weed[17, 90], especially when growing in the shade because this encourages formation of bulbils at the leaf bases[238]. You would regret introducing it into your garden, though it might have a place in the wild garden[90]. This is, however, a polymorphic species[90] and there are a number of named forms selected for their ornamental value[188]. These are normally less invasive than the type species.
The plant flowers early in the year when there are few pollinating insects and so seed is not freely produced[4]. The plant, however, produced tubercles (small tubers) along the stems and each of these can grow into a new plant[4].
Grows well along woodland edges[24], and in the deeper shade of the woodland where it often forms dense carpets[4].
The flowers do not open in dull weather and even on sunny days do not open before about 9 o'clock in the morning and are closed by 5 o'clock in the evening[4].
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes[54].

Propagation

Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. This species doesn't really need any help from us.
Division in spring.

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

References for Ficaria verna (a possible synonym).
  • [H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
References for Ranunculus ficaria var. ficaria (a possible synonym).
  • [P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
References for ranunculus ficaria (a possible synonym).

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.

References

[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.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[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.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden.
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

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

[60] Hitchcock. C. L. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press 1955
A standard flora for Western N. America with lots of information on habitat etc. Five large volumes, it is not for the casual reader.

[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.

[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.

[90] Phillips. R. and Rix. M. Bulbs Pan Books 1989 ISBN 0-330-30253-1
Superbly illustrated, it gives brief details on cultivation and native habitat.

[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.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism.
An excellent small herbal.

[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.

[188] Brickell. C. The RHS Gardener's Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. 1990 ISBN 0-86318-386-7
Excellent range of photographs, some cultivation details but very little information on plant uses.

[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.

[244] Phillips. R. & Foy. N. Herbs Pan Books Ltd. London. 1990 ISBN 0-330-30725-8
Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

Readers Comments

Ranunculus ficaria

Michal Tomczyk (tomczyk@amb.edu.pl) Thu Jun 13 09:54:25 2002

It's used in folk medicine and homeopathy as an antiinflammatory, astringent, antibiotic and antihaemorrhagic treatment. The extracts of the plant are applied to haemorrhoids by topical application as ointment or suppository. Previous phytochemical studies of pilewort tubers proved the presence of triterpenoid saponins. In the above-ground parts of the plants amino acids, mineral element as well as vitamin C were detected. Pilewort is the first plant outside of the Gentianaceae family to be reported as containing the disaccharide - gentiobiose. In teh fresh parts of the plant, ranunculin and products of its decompostion have been observed. In our previous papers, we have reported the identification of phenolic acids and the isolation and structure elucidation of flavonoid compounds derivatives of keapmferol and guercetin and C-glycosidic derivatives of apigenin and luteolin from flowers and leaves of Ficaria verna Huds..

Ranunculus ficaria

Fred Gillam (fred.gillam@earthconnector.org.uk) Sat May 31 19:44:12 2003

At times I use small quantities of Lesser Celandine leaves in spring salads, ensuring that I pick only the fresh green leaves. Generally this is before the plant is in flower. I have suffered no ill effects so far, and find the taste quite pleasant.

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