Ranunculaceae . . . . . Buttercup fmily

Note that Ranunculaceae generally have many stamens

Choose by flower colour from    Blue ,   Yellow,   White/pink ,   or   Green

Blue to mauve flowers

Aconitum napellus
Consolida
Aquilegia vulgaris
Pulsatilla vulgaris
Monkshood
Larkspur
Columbine
Pasque flower

Anemone blanda
Thalictrum
Balkan anemone
Meadow rue

Yellow flowers: select using:-

   Linear leaves,
   Kidney-shaped leaves,
   Palmate/pinnate lvs,
   Flower shape,

        Yellow flowers- Leaves linear (or nearly so)

R. flammula
R. lingua
R. sceleratus
Lesser spearwort
Greater spearwort
Celery-leaved buttercup

        Yellow flowers - Leaves heart- or kidney-shaped

Ficaria verna
Caltha palustris
Lesser celandine
King cup

        Yellow flowers - Leaves ternate/palmate/pinnate

Yellow flowers - select by flower shape

Ranunculus bulbosus
Ranunculus sardous
Ranunculus repens
Ranunculus acris
Bulbous buttercup (reflexed sepals)
Hairy buttercup
Creeping buttercup
Buttercup
Note that R. bulbosus and R. sardous are the only ones with reflexed sepals

Ranunculus auricomus
Ranunculus arvensis
Trollius europaeus
Ranunculus paludosus
Goldilocks
Corn buttercup
Globeflower
Jersey buttercup

Caltha palustris
Anemone ranunculoides
Eranthis hyemalis
Ficaria verna
Kingcup
Yellow anemone
Winter aconite
Lesser celandine

Aconitum lycoctonum
Clematis tangutica
Wolf's-bane
Orange-peel clematis

White Ranunculaceae

Choose between white (or pink) flowered spp.:

Ranunculus hederaceus
Ranunculus omiophyllus
Ranunculus peltatus
Ranunculus trichophyllus
Ivy-leaved crowfoot
Round leaved crowfoot
Pond water crowfoot
Three-leaved water crowfoot

Ranunculus aquatilis
Ranunculus penicillatus
Anemone nemorosa
Anemone blanda
Common water crowfoot
Stream water crowfoot
Wood anemone
Balkan anemone

Anemone x hybrida
Clematis vitalba
Helleborus foetidus
Actaea
Japanese anemone
Clematis
Stinking hellebore
Baneberry

Ranunculus aconitifolius
Aconite-lvd Buttercup

Greeny-White Ranunculaceae

Myosurus
Helleborus foetidus
Helleborus viridis
Clematis vitalba
Mousetail
Stinking hellebore
Green hellebore
Clematis

Aconitum . . . . . Monkshood

Aconitum lycoctonum . . . . . Wolf's-bane

An uncommon escape, esp. in N

Aconitum napellus . . . . . Monkshood

Native but widely grown and escaping, distinguished from hybrid monkshood (A. x stoerkianum) by hairy flower stalks; scattered in wet woodland around BI, but most plants hybrid to some degree

Actaea . . . . . Baneberry

Actaea spicata . . . . . Baneberry

Very local as native in limestone woodland N En

Anemone . . . . . Anemone

Anemone blanda . . . . . Balkan Anemone

Introduced from gardens, uncommonly naturalised; differs from A. apennina (blue anemone) in having hairless 'petals' and lower side of leaves

Anemone nemorosa . . . Wood Anemone

Deep shade in woodland throughout BI; flowers, esp. the outsides, often pink with 5-8 petals

Anemone ranunculoides . . . . . Anemone

Uncommon garden escape

Anemone x hybrida . . . . . Japanese Anemone

White to pink flowers; Spreads from gardens

Aquilegia . . . Columbine

Aquilegia vulgaris . . . . Columbine

Local on Chalk-based grassland

Caltha . . . Kingcup

Caltha palustris . . . . Kingcup

Throughout Br and Ire

Clematis . . . Clematis/Old man's beard

Clematis vitalba . . . Clematis or Old man's beard

Locally abundant in scrub on chalky soils in S

Clematis tangutica . . . Orange-peel Clematis

Widely planted and rarely naturalised

Consolida . . . Larkspur

Consolida ajacis . . . . Larkspur

A common garden escape, especially in C & S En (photo C Hutchinson)

Eranthis . . . Winter aconite

Eranthis hyemalis . . . Winter aconite

Flowers very early - Feb;

Ficaria . . . Lesser celandine

Ficaria verna . . . . . Lesser Celandine

Widespread early sping flower in woodland; Several subspp. are recognised

Helleborus . . . Hellebores

Helleborus foetidus . . . Stinking hellebore

Local as a native in calcareous woods in S Br, more widely as garden escape, bracts undivided (pic 3)

Helleborus orientalis . . . Lenten rose

Variable and widely planted; sometimes naturalised

Helleborus viridis . . . Green hellebore

Local as native in E En, naturalised elsewhere (Pics 1, 3, 4 R Horton); bracts divided (Pic 2)
Other spp. that naturalise include the following: Christmas rose (H. niger) flowers mid-winter, the others in spring
H. niger
H. argutifolius
H. argutifolius
Christmas rose
Corsican H.
Corsican H.

Myosurus . . . Mousetail

Myosurus minimus . . . . . Mousetail

Uncommon in damp arable land, SE En (Photos from M Ogden)

Pulsatilla . . . Pasque flower

Pulsatilla vulgaris . . . . . Pasque flower

Very local on S-facing slopes on dry chalk grassland in C & E En

Ranunculus . . . Buttercups (Yellow)

Choose from spp. below, or Yellow flower/lf shape keys, or White flowers

Ranunculus aconitifolius . . . . . Aconite-leaved buttercup

White flowers, naturalised escape by streams in N to C Br

Ranunculus acris . . . . . Meadow buttercup

Distinguished from R. repens by leaf shape (leaflets not stalked)

Ranunculus arvensis . . . . . Corn buttercup

Note characteristic spines on fruits: decreasing local weed of cornfields

Ranunculus auricomus . . . . . Goldilocks buttercup

Note the very different lower and upper leaves; Woods and hedgebanks, esp. En

Image below shows Ranunculus auricomus leaf on left and Geum urbanum leaf on right

Ranunculus bulbosus . . . . . Bulbous buttercup

Note 'reflexed' sepals (also in R. sardous)

Ranunculus flammula . . . . . Lesser spearwort

Linear leaves - common at the edge of ponds and streams

Ranunculus x levensensis . . . . . Loch Leven spearwort

Like R. flammula but creeping stems rooting at most nodes; Very local in N

Ranunculus lingua . . . . . Greater spearwort

A large robust plant with leaves > 1 cm wide; scattered in UK often as garden escape

Ranunculus paludosus . . . . . Jersey buttercup

Basal lvs deeply divided, hairy; 0-2 v. small stem leaves; Very rare in dry places, damp in winter, Jersey

Ranunculus parviflorus . . . . . Small-flowered buttercup

Rather local near the coast in CI and SW

Ranunculus repens . . . . . Creeping buttercup

Distinguished from R. acris by leaf shape (leaflets stalked, often with spots)

Ranunculus sardous . . . . . Hairy buttercup

Frequent in wet places near S & E coasts and CI; reflexed sepals, but narrower petals than in R. bulbosus)

Ranunculus sceleratus . . . Celery-leaved buttercup

Ranunculus . . . . . Water-crowfoots (White)

Checklist of distinguishing characters (or - go to key )
Fine lvs only
Fine & flat lvs
Flat lvs only
Young fruits bristly
R. hederaceus
    ⚪
    ⚪
    ⚫
    ⚪
R. omiophyllus
    ⚪
    ⚪
    ⚫
    ⚪
R. tripartitus
    ⚪
    ⚫
    ⚫
    ⚪
R. baudotii
   (< *)
    ⚫
    (⚪)
    ⚪
R. aquatilis
     <
    ⚫
    ⚪
    ⚫
R. peltatus
     <
    ⚫
    ⚪
    ⚫
R. pencillatus
     >
    ⚫
    ⚪
    ⚫
R. fluitans
     >
    ⚪
    ⚪
    ⚪
R. trichophyllus
     <
    ⚪
    ⚪
    ⚫
R. circinatus
     <
    ⚪
    ⚪
    ⚪
*< = mature fine lvs shorter than adjacent internode;
> = mature fine lvs longer than adjacent internode

Choose closest from the sample crowfoot spp. shown below, but can be difficult to distinguish:

Only flat lvs
Fine & flat lvs
Only fine lvs

Flat lvs only - CHOOSE from:

Ranunculus hederaceus . . . . . Ivy-leaved Water-crowfoot

Frequent in mud/shallow water throughout BI; 4th fig shows R.hederaceus (top) vs R. omiophyllus (below)

Ranunculus omiophyllus . . . . Round-leaved Water-crowfoot

Locally frequent in mud Wa and SW; petals >4.5 mm, petals longer than sepals which are reflexed

R. tripartitus . . . Three-lobed wWater-crowfoot

With flat lvs deeply divided in 3-lobes, wet mud ditches in S & W Br

With both flat and fine (submerged) lvs - CHOOSE from:

Ranunculus aquatilis . . . . . Common Water-crowfoot

Frequent throughout BI; round nectary at base of petals; petals 5-10 mm

Ranunculus baudotii . . . . . Brackish Water-crowfoot

Mostly nr the sea; any flat lvs deeply divided into 3 lobes; petals 5.5-10 mm; sepals reflexed fruits smooth

Ranunculus peltatus . . . Pond Water-crowfoot

In lakes/ponds across BI; petals 12-15 mm; Pear-shaped nectary at base of petals; small bristles on fruits
Other less common spp. include:
R. penicillatus subsp. penicillatus (Stream Water-crowfoot) see below
and many hybrids . . . .

With only fine (submerged) lvs - CHOOSE from:

Ranunculus fluitans . . . . . River Water-crowfoot

In fast rivers; has only submerged lvs divided <4x and longer than adjacent internodes; petals 7-13 mm

Ranunculus penicillatus . . . Stream Water-crowfoot (subsp. pseudofluitans)

In fast flowing rivers, streams; petals 10-15 mm

Ranunculus trichophyllus . . . . Thread-leaved Water-crowfoot

Scattered around BI, ponds, ditches, canals; small fls, petals 3.5-6 mm, separated, sepals not reflexed, lvs all fine
Other less common spp. include:
R. circinatus (Fan-lvd Water-crowfoot) with rigid fan-shaped lvs; petals 4-10 mm

Thalictrum . . . Meadow rue

Thalictrum alpinum . . . Alpine Meadow rue

Usually <15cm; On mountains esp. in Sc

Thalictrum flavum . . . Meadow rue

Wet meadows

Thalictrum minus . . . Meadow rue

Locally common in a range of habitats, usually calcareous

Trollius . . . . . Globe flower

Trollius europaeus . . . Globe flower

Local in damp upland meadows