Ranunculus ficaria verna - Lesser Celandine

The Ranunculus ficaria verna, also known as Lesser Celandine, is a small plant from our European flora that will thrive in many regions that are not too dry in summer. It will spread quickly, forming elegant leafy carpets in winter and scattered with small bright yellow stars just before the arrival of spring. In shady and cool areas of the garden, sometimes neglected, the spring celandine eventually forms beautiful colonies. Plant it under the canopy of deciduous trees where it perfectly tolerates the competition from roots. A lovely ground cover,  to be paired with the blue flowers of liverworts, bland anemones.

The Ranunculus ficaria verna, also known by its Latin names Ficaria verna and Ficaria ranunculoides or simply celandine, belongs to the family Ranunculaceae, just like our famous buttercup. It is native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, introduced to North America where it has sometimes become invasive. It is found in clear deciduous woodlands, where it flowers early in spring before the trees' leaves develop, at the edge of forests, but also in cool and humid places like riverbanks. It also likes meadows, embankments, and hedges, where it grows up to 1600 m (5249ft) altitude, always on relatively fresh soil.

It is a small perennial plant with brown and swollen roots forming small tubers. They ensure its vegetative multiplication and allow it to colonize the space more or less quickly. Its vegetation disappears at the end of spring, after flowering, which corresponds to its resting period. The lesser celandine spends the first part of winter as buds and develops its new foliage before flowering, in January-February depending on the climate. 

Forming a small tuft of 5 cm (2in) in height, this celandine spreads quite rapidly over at least 30 cm (12in) on the ground. Its foliage is composed of heart-shaped leaves, 4 to 9 cm (2 to 4in) wide, thick, shiny, and dark green. The flowering takes place from March to May depending on the climate, sometimes as early as February. Clusters of foliage emerge from stalks 15-20 cm (6-8in) high, each carrying a solitary flower of 3 to 4 cm (1 to 2in) in diameter, composed of 6 to 12 oval and elongated petals, well separated, of a light and shiny yellow on the top. The flower opens in the morning and closes in the evening, even in cloudy or rainy weather. Numerous yellow stamens and carpels are central to the flower. The lesser celandine reproduces through spontaneous sowing. Before the vegetation disappears, the plant develops bulblets in the axil of the leaves. They detach at the same time as a small piece of stem with a bud. This small seedling falls to the ground and takes root, ensuring the multiplication of the celandine.

Being really easy to grow in ordinary soil, the lesser celandine has good hardiness (-20°C (-4°F)). It strongly prefers moist soils, even marshy ones, but also adapts easily to any good soil that is not too dry. It is also grown in pots to bloom on the terrace or balcony, from the end of winter. Plant it at the edge of a grove or in a countryside bed, in partial shade or morning sun, together with snowdrops, liverworts (Hepatica nobilis), lungworts, brunneras, or blue forget-me-nots, which have such complementary colours. It is also a good perennial for damp banks, even in partial shade, next to Chocolate Wings Rodgersias pinnata, or Brunette Actaea simplex, with their purple foliage.