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Common Name: Creeping Buttercup
Ranunculus repens is a perennial plant that can grow up to 0.30 metres tall.
It is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and medicine
All parts of the plant are poisonous[
], the toxins being destroyed by heat or by drying[
]. The plant also has a strongly acrid juice that can cause blistering to the skin[
Europe, including Britain, from Norway south and east to Spain, through Asia to China and Japan.
Wet meadows, pastures, woods, dune slacks etc[
]. A common and rampant weed, avoiding acid soils[
|Pollinators||Bees, Flies, Beetles
Prefers a moist loamy soil on the heavy side.
A rampantly spreading weed of grassland, few gardeners would want to introduce it to their land[
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes[
Leaves - cooked and used as a pot-herb[
]. A famine food, used when all else fails, and I would rather give it a miss even then[
]! See the notes above on toxicity.
Root - must be dried beforehand and thoroughly cooked[
]. Personally, I would rather give this one a miss[
], see the notes above on toxicity.
The entire plant is analgesic and rubefacient[
]. A poultice of the chewed leaves has been used in the treatment of sores, muscular aches and rheumatic pains[
]. Some caution is advised in the use of this plant, see the notes above on toxicity.
Seed - sow spring in a cold frame. A very common weed, it doesn't really need any help from us.
Division in spring. Very easy, though probably totally unnecessary, larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions.