What a beautiful flower the Lesser Celandine, Ranunculus ficaria, is. Just when it seems that winter will go on forever, a little yellow sun pops its head up above the frozen ground. You wonderful #wildflowerhour members have been spotting Lesser Celandines all over the place over the last few weeks, and here are some of the highlights, including this featured image from @anneontheshelf:
How do you identify this as a Lesser Celandine and not one of the other members of the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) to which it belongs? Well, it grows no taller than 20cm (normally much lower than this), its leaves are in rosettes and are heart-shaped (or cordate) at the end of long stalks. The flowers have 8-12 narrow yellow petals, and 3 oval sepals.
If you’ve found Lesser Celandine, just tweet or Instagram a picture of it using the #wildflowerhour hashtag, or post it in our Facebook group.
