Creeping Buttercup
BUSH INVADER
Ranunculus repens
family: RANUNCULACEAE
Description
- Creeping Buttercup is a prostrate perennial creeping herb from Europe, Asia and Africa. It grows in damp degraded places.
- Leaves, which are produced in clusters on long stems, are almost round. They are compound, with three deeply indented lobes, and often exhibit patchy colour.
- The flowers are five-petalled, shiny golden yellow, and held above the leaves on long stalks. Flowers mostly spring and summer.
- Creeping Buttercup produces small hard seeds. It also reproduces by above-ground stems which root down (stolons) to form new plants.
- The native geranium has a similar leaf to Creeping Buttercup, but has a small pink flower.
Dispersal
Creeping Buttercup is dispersed by the dumping of garden waste, and spreads by means of its stolons. Seeds are also dispersed by water, and in the faeces of horses, cattle and birds.
Impact on Bushland
Spreads rapidly in damp areas and drainage lines which are disturbed and nutrient-rich, displacing native plants.
Distribution
Throughout the Blue Mountains.
Alternative Planting
Native Plants
Water Ferns (Blechnum species)
Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens)
Ivy Goodenia (Goodenia hederacea)
Native Violet (Viola hederacea)
Native Geranium species
Local native sedges eg, Common Rush (Juncus usitatus), Knobby Club-rush (Isolepis nodosa)
Exotic alternatives
none recommended
Control
Hand remove (roots are up to 25cm deep); wear gloves as the plant produces an irritant oil.
Can be sprayed, but not near watercourses.
Control erosion.
Follow-up treatment will be needed.
Creeping Buttercup spreads rapidly in damp nutrient-rich areas, displacing native plants.
Five-petalled golden yellow flowers are held above the foliage on long stalks.
