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Invasive Species: Lesser Celandine

A lesser celandine plant with two yellow flowers.

Invasive Species: Lesser Celandine

Watch list, detected in Michigan

This species is on Michigan's invasive species watch list and has been detected in Michigan.

What is lesser celandine?

(Ficaria verna; formerly Ranunculus ficaria)

Other common names:  fig buttercup, pilewort.

Lesser celandine is a terrestrial (land-based) plant that can spread to form thick mats in floodplain forests and along trails, crowding out important native vegetation and creating opportunities for erosion when it goes completely dormant by late spring, leaving open areas of soil.

Identify

What to look for

  • Low-growing (generally 3 to 6 inches but up to 12 inches), spreading perennial plant found in floodplains in early spring. 
  • Small (1 inch wide,) bright yellow flowers with 8 to 12 petals.
  • Shiny, dark-green leaves are kidney- or heart-shaped and often borne in a central rosette.
  • May be found singly, but forms a thick carpet in densely-infested areas, especially along trails and in forested river floodplains.
  • Spreads by seeds, rhizomes, and bulbils (tiny bulb-like structures found where leaves connect to the stem).
  • Grows in moist forests before trees leaf out (March/April); entire plant disappears by the end of May.
 

Lesser celandine photos

The following images can help identify lesser celandine. Click on each photo for descriptions.

Common look alikes

Before reporting lesser celandine, be aware of some other plants that can easily be mistaken for lesser celandine.

A greater celandine plant in bloom

Greater celandine

(Chelidonium majus) – non-native; flowers have only 4 petals. Leaves are deeply lobed with wavy margins; often in disturbed forests.
More information on greater celandine
A marsh marigold plant showing yellow flowers.

Marsh marigold

(Caltha palustris) – similar in appearance, habitat and timing, but generally much taller (1-2 ft.) and more of a clumped look even when in large populations. Flowers have only 5-9 petals, and flowers and leaves are much larger (1-2” flowers, leaves up to 7” wide).  Leaves persist through the summer rather than disappearing in May.
More information on marsh marigold
A wood poppy plant in bloom.

Wood poppy

(Stylophorum diphyllum) – flowers have only 4 petals. Leaves are deeply lobed and silvery below. Plants are taller (1-2 ft.); also found in drier forests
More information on wood poppy

Report

To report suspected lesser celandine: 

Note the location of the suspected lesser celandine and be sure to include at least one photo of the plant to help in verification.

 

Species info

Habitat

Lesser celandine is most common in floodplain forests and other wet disturbed areas, including wet meadows, old fields and roadsides. Plants are visible only in early spring. By late May plants die back, leaving bare ground.

Range

Native: Lesser celandine is native to central Europe, north Africa, and the Caucasus Mountains. View map from ResearchGate.

U.S. Distribution: Found mainly in floodplain forests, lesser celandine populations have spread to many areas of the northeast U.S., with expansions into the Midwest and Southeast. View EDDMapS distribution data.

In Michigan: First collected in Clinton County in 1982, this plant has escaped cultivation and is now found commonly, sometimes in large monocultures, in the Grand River watershed in mid-Michigan. It is not widely known beyond this area. Public reporting and further surveys are needed.

Local concern

Lesser celandine is aggressive and can quickly spread through moist habitats, displacing other plants. When it goes dormant in late spring, it leaves large patches of apparently bare ground, increasing the risk of erosion and introduction of other invasive species. 

How it spreads

Originally introduced—and still occasionally re-introduced—as an ornamental landscape planting, lesser celandine can spread by seeds but also is spread when rhizomes (thick, short underground stems) and bulbils (tiny bulb-like structures found where leaves connect to the stem) break off the plant and are deposited somewhere else.  These structures can be moved by floodwaters, human movement and animal activity.
 

Additional information