Ranunculus repens L., Ranunculaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: fu zhi mao gen

English: butter daisy, creeping buttercup, creeping crowfoot

French: renoncule rampante

Spanish: botón de oro rastrero, ranúnculo rastrero

Habit:  herb

Description:  "Stoloniferous and rhizomatous perennial herbs; stems prostrate and rooting at least at the lower nodes or weakly erect, 1-9 dm long, sparsely to densely hirsute.  Basal leaves ternately compound, leaflets broadly ovate, 1.5-8 cm long and wide, deeply lobed or divided and toothed, both surfaces sparsely to moderately appressed pubescent.  Flowers few in cymes; receptacle broadly conical, very short, pubescent; sepals 5, green or purple-tinged, lanceolate, 5-8 mm long, spreading or erect; petals 5-7, yellow, obovate-cuneate, 5-13 mm long, base with a truncate nectary scale.  Achenes 20-25 in a subglobose head, obovoid, 2.5-3 mm long, margined, the faces smooth, beak ca. 1 mm long, tapering from a broad base, recurved"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1090).

Habitat/ecology:  "Forest, grassland, riparian habitats, freshwater wetlands.  Where native,this plant grows in wet grassland, woods, marshes, streamsides, and dune slacks.  It is a highly variable species in the native range.  The plant spreads rapidly where competition is low and forms dense swards that eliminate native vegetation.  Seedlings establish readily on bare ground.  It is an important agricultural weed and also invades natural plant communities"  (Weber, 2003; p. 354).

"Spreads rapidly in damp areas and drainage lines which are disturbed and nutrient-rich, displacing native plants"  (Weeds of Blue Mountains bushland).  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in fields and pastures, sometimes in disturbed wet forest along streams, 600-1,460 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1090).

Propagation:  Seed.  "Creeping Buttercup is dispersed by the dumping of garden waste, and spreads by means of its stolons. Seeds are also dispersed by water, and in the feces of horses, cattle and birds"  (Weeds of Blue Mountains bushland).  "The plant has a large seed bank and seeds remain viable for several years"  (Weber, 2003; p. 354).

Native range:  Europe (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1090).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia (Pacific offshore islands) Norfolk Islands	Norfolk Island	introduced invasive	Orchard, Anthony E., ed. (1994) (p. 10) "An introduced weed which thrives in damp soil". Voucher cited: W. Laing s.n. (CHR)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1090)
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 120) Voucher cited: MacKee 41022 Spontané

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Australia Australia (continental)	New South Wales	introduced invasive	Harley, Barbara (2009)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)	introduced invasive	Belov, Michail (2011)
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong (2011) "Meadows, moist places, by streams; 300-3300 m".
China China	China (People's Republic of)		Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias (1988) (p. 68)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)		Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. (1979) (p. 304)
Japan Japan	Japan (country)	introduced	Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro (2004) (p. 182)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. (1988) (p. 1023) "Wet ground, waste places, pasture, ditches, roadsides, river banks, gardens".

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Mascarene Islands Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, La Reunion, Rodrigues)	Mascarene Islands	introduced invasive	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Control: 

Physical:  "Small patches may be removed manually, roots must be removed.  Repeated cutting may reduce the plant's vigour".

Chemical:  "Effective herbicides are 2,4-D or MCPA"  (Weber, 2003; p. 354).

Additional information:
Information and photos at Weeds of Blue Mountains bushland.
Photos and other information from Chileflora.

Additional online information about Ranunculus repens is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Ranunculus repens as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Ranunculus repens may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Belov, Michail. 2011. Chileflora (online resource).

Hafliger, Toni J./Wolf, Matthias. 1988. Dicot weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 335 pp.

Harley, Barbara. 2009. Weeds of Blue Mountains bushland. (online resource).

Holm, Leroy/Pancho, Juan V./Herberger, James P./Plucknett, Donald L. 1979. A geographical atlas of world weeds. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 391 pp.

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

Mito, Toshikazu/Uesugi, Tetsuro. 2004. Invasive alien species in Japan: the status quo and the new regulation for prevention of their adverse effects. Global Environmental Research 8(2)/2004: 171-191.

Orchard, Anthony E., ed. 1994. Flora of Australia. Vol. 49, Oceanic islands 1. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).

Webb, C. J./Sykes, W. R./Garnock-Jones, P. J. 1988. Flora of New Zealand, Volume IV: Naturalised pteridophytes, gymnosperms, dicotyledons. Botany Division, DSIR, Christchurch. 1365 pp.

Weber, Ewald. 2003. Invasive plants of the World. CABI Publishing, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. 548 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).