Musings

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Bulbous buttercup




Time to tackle the 'buttercups'. 
For some reason I've always struggled to remember the differences between the three common buttercups: meadow buttercup, creeping buttercup and bulbous buttercup. 
This year I finally had them all off pat. I'm happy to report that all three grow in the garden. 
This is bulbous buttercup: Ranunculus bulbosus. You can tell because the sepals are folded downwards or 'recurved'. It has divided leaves, not totally dissimilar from meadow buttercup, and tends to form tufts in the turf.
It also usually flowers first of the three. 
Another common name for it is St Anthony's turnip, a reference to it's swollen corm, although why St Anthony isn't clear to me.

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