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• Bulbous Buttercup Weed
• Bulbous Buttercup Scientific Name
• Bulbous Buttercup Weed
• Buttercup Plant Information

1. Forms a basal rosette of 3-lobed leaves, arising from a corm. Flowers are bright yellow with 5-7 shiny petals arising from erect, somewhat hairy stems. Tall and creeping buttercup are also seen but less common. By seed but corms can overwinter. Bulbous roots (corms) Conditions that favor growth. Unfertilized, poor soil.
2. Bulbous buttercup is a plant. The whole flowering plant is used to make medicine. Despite serious safety concerns, people take bulbous buttercup for skin diseases, arthritis, gout, nerve pain, flu (influenza), swine flu, and meningitis. Be careful not to confuse bulbous buttercup with buttercup or poisonous buttercup.

The bulbous buttercup gets its name from its distinctive perennating organ, a bulb-like swollen underground stem or corm, which is situated just below the soil surface. After the plant dies in heat of summer, the corm survives underground through the winter.

© Copyright: Images: Jouko Lehmuskallio.
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Bulbous Buttercup

Ranunculus bulbosus

• Family: Buttercup Family – Ranunculaceae
• Growing form: Perennial herb.
• Height: 10–30 cm (4–12 in.). Stems 1–2, stem erect, long-branched, with tuber at base, lower part hairy, upper part mostly leafless.
• Flower: Corolla regular (actinomorphic), golden–bright yellow, shiny, usually 15–30 mm (0.6–1.2 in.) wide; petals 5, longer than sepals. Sepals 5, recurved, white-haired. Receptacle hairy. Stamens many. Gynoecium separate, with many pistils. Flower solitary, terminating stem, flower-stalk grooved.
• Leaves: Alternate, basal leaves 2–5, long-stalked, stem leaves stalkless. Basal leaf blades roundish–triangular, hairy, with 3 leaflets, central leaflet usually quite long-stalked, leaflets 3-lobed, toothed. Stem leaf leaflets sparsely lobed, uppermost leaves with 3 leaflets, entire.
• Fruit: Elliptic, glabrous achene, edges winged, tip with short, very curved bristle. Several achenes together.
• Habitat: Dry meadows, meadows, grassy rocky outcrops, banks, yards, casually in harbours.
• Flowering time: May–June.

Bulbous buttercup is a demanding plant that grows on the Åland Islands and Finland’s south-western archipelago. It has spread to the mainland around harbours in coastal towns and thrives on dry, sunny, often south-facing meadow ridges. At first glance it resembles meadow buttercup but can be differentiated by the swollen basal part of the stem. The plant’s scientific name bulbosus, ’bulbous’ refers to this construction, although it is slightly misleading: it doesn’t have a bulb but rather a basal tuber. The overwintering tuber’s regenerating bulbil develops a new stem that grows a new tuber every summer. By autumn all the old tuber’s nutrition has been used up and it has slowly rotted and died, but by then the new tuber has reached full size and the plant can overwinter safely. The tuber’s almost vertical stem roots are able to shorten themselves and pull the tuber up to a suitable depth to protect it from the winter cold. Bulbous buttercup cannot propagate itself via its rootstock, and it doesn’t produce runners, so it is completely reliant on its seed production.

Suddenly buttercup species that look like meadow buttercup burst into flower throughout the summer all over the place: bulbous buttercup grows on dry, well-drained land, multiflowered buttercup (R. polyathemoides) favours dryish meadows, meadow buttercup (R. acris) likes a bit damper places, and creeping buttercup (R. repens) likes the wettest environment. Apart from its tuber, bulbous buttercup can be differentiated from its relatives by its sepals, which turn towards the flower-stalk.

→ Distribution map (Kasviatlas, University of Helsinki)

Other species from the same genus

Celery-leaved Crowfoot, Common Water Crowfoot, Creeping Buttercup, Creeping Spearwort, Glacier Buttercup, Goldilocks, Great Spearwort, Kashubian Buttercups, Lesser Spearwort, Meadow Buttercup, Multiflowered Buttercup, Pond Water Crowfoot, Pygmy Buttercup, Ranunculus fallax, Snow Buttercup,

Other species from the same family

Alpine Meadow-­rue, Baneberry, Candle Larkspur, Celery-leaved Crowfoot, Columbine, Common Meadow-rue, Common Water Crowfoot, Creeping Buttercup, Creeping Spearwort, Eastern Pasque Flower, Forking Larkspur, Glacier Buttercup, Globeflower, Goldilocks, Great Spearwort, Greater Meadow­-rue, Hepatica, Kashubian Buttercups, Lesser Celandine, Lesser Meadow-rue, Lesser Spearwort, Marsh Marigold, Meadow Buttercup, Monkshood, Mousetail, Multiflowered Buttercup, Northern Wolfsbane, Pasque Flower, Pond Water Crowfoot, Pygmy Buttercup, Ranunculus fallax, Red Baneberry, Shining Meadow-rue, Small Meadow-rue, Small Pasque Flower, Snow Buttercup, Snowdrop Anemone, Spring Pasque Flower, Three-leaved Anemone, Winter Aconite, Wood Anemone, Yellow Wood Anemone

Trees and bushes from the same family

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Did You Know?

Problems with buttercups:

• Can be toxic to horses
• Grows in nutrient-deficient soils

How to get rid of buttercups:

• Improve growing conditions
  
• Treat with herbicides

Information by Rakesh Chandran, Ph.D., WVU Extension Service Weed Science Specialist

What’s Up, Bulbous Buttercup?

We can all remember picking those tiny, yellow flowers and holding them under our friends’ chins to see if they “like butter.” Spotting buttercups in your lawns and pastures is sure to bring back childhood memories, but for some, the sight of it might not be as joyous.

Bulbous Buttercup Weed

Bulbous Buttercup Identification

Bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus) is a perennial weed prevalent in pastures and hayfields, and occasionally, in lawns and gardens. It produces bright yellow flowers with cup-shaped petals glistened by a shiny upper surface when held against sunlight – and causing a reflection under our chins.

Two closely related species are creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) and tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris). However, bulbous buttercups have a characteristic bulb-shaped base, referred to as ‘corm,’ just beneath the soil surface and reflexed or curved sepals that are pointed towards the stem.

Controls for Bulbous Buttercup

It comes to bloom from mid-April to May and are considered to be toxic to animals, especially horses, by virtue of a toxic glycoside called ranunculin. They tend to grow in nutrient-deficient soils and can be managed culturally by improving the growing conditions.

Bulbous Buttercup Scientific Name

Seeds germinate during fall months forming rosettes that can remain dormant in the fields during winter months. Shoots from the corm emerge as the soil starts to warm up during early spring. Tank-mixtures containing both 2,4-D and dicamba (several formulations) along with a surfactant provide good control when applied in early spring while the rosettes are actively growing and getting ready to bloom.

Bulbous Buttercup Weed

Author:Rakesh Chandran, WVU Extension Weed Science Specialist
Last Reviewed: June 2018

Buttercup Plant Information

Recommendations for the use of agricultural chemicals are included as a convenience to the reader. The use of brand names and any mention or listing of commercial products or services does not imply endorsement by West Virginia University Extension Service nor discrimination against similar products or services not mentioned. Individuals who use agricultural chemicals are responsible for ensuring that the intended use complies with current regulations and conforms to the product label. Be sure to obtain current information about usage regulations and examine a current product label before applying any chemical. For assistance, contact your county Cooperative Extension agent.