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NATURE / OUTDOORS
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 Lesser
Celandine
3/24/08
Mark Burchick
Lesser Celandine
Ranunculus ficaria
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While working in Washington, DC today, I
stopped off at a location on the Rock Creek
floodplain to look at a well known amphibian
breeding vernal pool in preparation for
research work Wednesday at a spring pool
complex in Crofton near the confluence of
the Patuxent
and Little Patuxent rivers and
a long-established heron rookery. All
of the following photos were taken today,
March 24, 2008.
Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus ficaria, is an
early spring blooming, herbaceous member of
the Buttercup Family, Ranunculaceae.
Its leaves emerge in late winter (February)
in Maryland. The bright yellow
buttercup-like flowers contrast sharply with
the glossy green heart-shaped leaves through
March into April, whereupon the entire plant
dies back and survives as underground tubers
until the following year. |
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Native to Europe, it is said to have been
William Wordsworth's "favorite flower," and
indeed, he wrote three poems extolling the
virtues of this tough little harbinger of
spring. Historically, the plant was valued
for its medicinal properties. Nicholas
Culpeper (1616-1654) wrote of the curative
powers of this plant in treating piles,
hemorrhoids, boils, warts, and tumors.
Young leaves are reported to have been used
in treatment of scurvy, as they are
relatively high in vitamin C, and were even
often used in salads. Older leaves were not
used for this purpose, as they contain the
toxin protoanemonine. When boiled with
white wine, sweetened with honey, and taken
before bed, the lesser celandine was
believed to induce pleasant dreams, and was
used as a "visionary herb" to increase
psychic abilities. It is likely that for
some of these same qualities this garden
plant recently found its way to North
America.
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Lesser celandine is a low-growing
perennial herb with shiny, somewhat
lustrous dark green leaves that form a
rosette. Leaves are kidney to heart
shaped with smooth to coarse toothed
edges. Each rosette forms a single
bright yellow flower that is up to one
inch wide. Seeds ripen early and the
entire plant dies back by late spring,
but not before it has developed numerous
tubers in which it has stored energy for
early growth the next year. Plants may
spread by seed, or by unearthed tubers
that may be moved around by seasonal
flooding events. Large colonies of
lesser celandine can cover acres of
forest floor. They are easy to spot in
the spring because of the high density
of bright yellow flowers on the bright
green carpet of leaves.
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Lesser celandine is typically found in
moist, forested floodplains, and
occasionally in some drier upland areas. |
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This map shows where lesser celandine
occurs and considered an invasive,
non-native nuisance species.
Maryland sits right in the middle of
ground-zero, the epicenter of this Asian
monster. My brother who lives in
Indiana thought this plant was the
native marsh marigold, a similar,
robust, attractive native wetland plant
that is not common in Maryland.
How I wish!
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Lesser celandine is primarily a threat
to native plants and native plant
diversity in lowland woods and on
floodplains. It out-competes native
plants through its extremely early
seasonal growth and the development of a
dense network of roots and tubers in the
soil. Over time it forms extensive
carpets in natural areas, crowding out
native plants, especially native
ephemeral (short-lived) wildflowers.
The survival strategy of native
ephemeral wildflowers is to grow and
flower early in the spring before
leaf-out of the forest canopy. By doing
so, these plants receive needed sunlight
and can take advantage of nutrients
released from decaying material over the
winter. Lesser celandine uses the same
strategy, but starts growing earlier in
the season and is far more aggressive in
its use of space.
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I found a patch of native bloodroot, at
peak flower and growing along with the
non-native buttercup. The photo
also shows an emerging cut-leaf
toothwort and non-native speedwell. |
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The little purple flowers are speedwell
that was growing along with henbit, two
weeds often found in lawns and other
disturbed sites. |
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Speedwell and bloodroot along with
Japanese honeysuckle (of course another
nuisance invasive). |
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Spring beauty was beginning to flower
along the warm side slopes of the
floodplain. |
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Fighting for space on the floodplain
carpet of celandine, Virginia bluebells
emerge from the moist soil and should be
at peak in about two weeks from now,
rising well above the celandine. I
wanted to make sure to end this e-mail
on a positive note. |
Mark Burchick
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