Creeping Buttercup - Ranunculus repens

Description

Short to medium generally hairy plant with long creeping and rooting runners. Flowers golden yellow 20 to 30 mm in lax clusters, sepals erect.

Similar Species

Often confused with R bulbosus and R acris - all are common and found in grasslands

Identification difficulty
ID checklist (your specimen should have all of these features)

Basal leaves - a short section of stalk separates final leaf lobe from two basal side-lobes.  Sepals not turned down; fitting underneath the petals 

Recording advice

Photos of basal leaves and sepals (a side-on view of flower, not 'full face') 

Habitat

Grassy habitats, especially on wet and heavy soils. Meadows, road verges, marshes, etc.

When to see it

May to September.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Common throughout Britain.

VC55 Status

Very common in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 606 of the 617 tetrads.  Listed as Native and Frequent in the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011)

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Creeping Buttercup
Species group:
Wildflowers
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Ranunculales
Family:
Ranunculaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
585
First record:
11/05/1992 (John Mousley;Steve Grover)
Last record:
03/12/2024 (Isabel Raval)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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Latest images

Latest records

Photo of the association

Phytomyza ranunculi

A leaf mining fly whose larvae mine the leaves of various members of the Buttercup family. In this species the grains of frass are closely adjoining or grouped. Identification is more difficult when the mine is in the stem.

Photo of the association

Phytomyza ranunculivora

A leaf mining fly whose larvae mine the leaves of various members of the Buttercup family of plants.  In this species the mine is linear, whitish, with frass in widely spaced grains.