Ranunculus sardous Crantz

Hairy Buttercup; Sardinian Buttercup

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Hairy Buttercup is an introduced herbaceous annual in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is native to Europe. In Alabama it can be found statewide. Hairy Buttercup occurs in pastures, on roadsides, in ditches, in lawns, in fallow fields, and in other disturbed, often wet sites. It is an annual with a fibrous root system. The plants lack a bulbous base and stolons. Stems are erect, 6-16 inches in height, green in color, pubescent, and branched above the middle. The pubescent leaves are basal and cauline. The cauline leaves are alternate, the lower ones petiolate, the upper leaves sessile. Basal leaves are petiolate. The basal and lower cauline leaves are 3-lobed or 3-foliate with the segments again parted into wide divisions. The leaf margins have rounded teeth or lobes. Upper cauline leaves are sessile and divided into narrow segments. Flowers are produced in terminal and axillary cymes. Individual flowers are pedicellate with 5 reflexed green sepals and 5 shiny yellow petals. Each flower has 15-35 pistils. The fruit is an achene with a sparsely papillate or smooth face and a curved beak. Hairy Buttercup is toxic. It contains the chemical ranunculin which is converted to protoanemonin when the plant is injured. This chemical can cause blistering of the mouth, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, spasms, and paralysis. It can also cause contact dermatitis in humans when the plant is handled. The chemical also imparts an acrid taste to the plant so livestock often avoid it.—A. Diamond

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Not Native FAC+ (NWPL)

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