Creeping buttercup

File:Creeping butercup close 800.jpg

Scientific classification
| Kingdom:  | Plantae

|

Division:  | Magnoliophyta

Class:  | Magnoliopsida

Order:  | Ranunculales

Family:  | Ranunculaceae

Genus:  | Ranunculus

Species:  | R. repens

Binomial name
Ranunculus repens

The Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens) is a flowering plant in the Buttercup family, native to Europe and the Pacific Northwest. It has attractive yellow flowers and stolons, running stems, which produce roots and new plants at the nodes. Creeping buttercup has three-lobed dark green, white-spotted leaves that grow out of the node.[1] The stems also grow out of the nodes, and are quite hairy.

Creeping buttercup can be differentiated from other buttercups because the flowers produced are often larger than many other Ranuncules[2] (although in poor conditions the flowers may be as small as 10 mm diameter), there are stolons, and it is very low-lying.

## Cultivation and uses

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Creeping buttercup is native to Europe and the Pacific Northwest but was sold in many parts of the world as an ornamental flower.[3] It has now become an invasive species in many parts of the world. The plant grows in fields and pastures and prefers wet soil.[3]

Like most buttercups R. repens is poisonous, although when dried with hay these poisons are lost. The taste of buttercups is acrid, so cattle avoid eating them. The plants then take advantage of the cropped ground around it to spread their stolons. Creeping buttercup also is spread through the transportation of hay. Contact with the sap of the plant can cause skin and mucus membrane irritation.[3]

## References

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1. ↑ Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens). Field Guide to Noxious and Other Selected Weeds of British Columbia. [1]
2. ↑ Uva, R.H., Neal, J.C., and Ditomaso, J.M. Weeds of The Northeast. Ithaca, NY. Cornell University Press. 1997. pp 294-295.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Burrill, L.C. Creeping Buttercup: Ranunculus repens L. Oregon State University. January 1992, [2]

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