Buttercup, Celery-leaved

Information on Celery-leaved Buttercup

Common Name: Celery-leaved Buttercup
Scientific Name: Ranunculus sceleratus
Irish Name: Toircheas fiáin
Family Group: Ranunculaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Celery-leaved Buttercup is not easily confused with other wild plants on this web site.


Easily overlooked, this little yellow-green annual wildflower is found growing in marshes, ditches and stagnant water.  Its little 5-10mm pale yellow flowers appear at the top of stout, ridged stems from May to September.  These are followed in autumn by fruits in conical, elongated heads containing hundreds of little seeds.  The leaves are celery-like, deeply lobed and shiny.  This plant is a native and belongs to the family Ranunculaceae.

I first found this plant near Shanganagh, Co Dublin in 1977 and photographed it at Blackditch Nature Reserve, Co Wicklow in 2005 and Tacumshane, Co Wexford in 2008.

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

'Sceleratus' translates as 'vicious' as the sap in this plant can cause great discomfort and blistering to human skin.  It can also be extremely toxic to livestock.

Buttercup, Celery-leaved
Buttercup, Celery-leaved
Buttercup, Celery-leaved
Buttercup, Celery-leaved