Also known as Granny's nightcap, this plant is considered as native in some areas and a garden escape in others. It is quite poisonous, with violet flowers which are unmistakeable from any other, and sometimes when it is a garden escape its flowers can be pink or white. The nodding 3-5 cm flowers have 5 petals and 5 petal-like sepals, the petals each having a hook-tipped spur, and they bloom from May to July. The two-trifoliate leaves are grey-green with rounded leaflets. This plant belongs to the family Ranunculaceae.
I first identified this as a wildflower in the Burren in 1978. The photograph of the darker flower was taken in Ballyvaughan in 1982 and the more violet-coloured flower was photographed on Moneen Mountain in 1998.
If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre
