Ranunculus vernus
Huds.
Lesser Celadine, Common buttercup, Pilewort
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Description
A small herb. It grows 5-20 cm high and spreads 20-60 cm wide. It keeps growing from year to year. The leaves are heart shaped and dark green. They are 35 mm long. The flowers usually occur singly and are 25 mm across. They are golden yellow.
Edible Uses
Young leaves are boiled and eaten in salads, sandwiches, or soups. Bleached stems are cooked and eaten. Bulbils and roots are soaked in salt water and cooked, often served with meat. Flower buds are used as a substitute for capers. Leaves are sold in local markets.
Traditional Uses
The young leaves are boiled then eaten in salads and sandwiches or used in soups. The bleached stems are cooked and eaten. The bulbils and the roots can be cooked and served with meat. They are first soaked in salt water. The flower buds are a substitute for capers.
Medicinal Uses
Traditionally used in various preparations.
Known Hazards
All plants of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) contain a compound known as protoanemonin. When the plant is wounded, the unstable glucoside ranunculin turns into the toxin protoanemonin. Contact with damaged or crushed Ficaria leaves can cause itching, rashes or blistering on the skin or mucosa. Ingesting the toxin can cause nausea, vomiting, dizziness, spasms, or paralysis. In one case, a patient experienced acute hepatitis and jaundice when taking untreated lesser celandine extracts internally as an herbal remedy for hemorrhoids.
Distribution
It is a temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 5-9.
Where It Grows
Africa, Algeria, Asia, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Caucasus, Crete, Estonia, Europe, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Mediterranean, North Africa, North America, Norway, Romania, Scandinavia, Sicily, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Tasmania, Turkey, Türkiye, USA,
Other Information
Leaves are sold in the local markets.
Notes
There are about 400 Ranunculus species.
Nutrition
| Part | Moisture | kJ | kcal | Protein | Vit A | Vit C | Iron | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leaves | 63 | 15 | 2.5 | — | — | — | — | — |
Synonyms
Also Known As
Blyskac, Blystekm Favagello, Ficaria, Kanakoole, Katirnali, Lobiana, Purk'ak'ala, Varkal, Yaghot
References (25)
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- Pasta, S., et al, 2020, An Updated Checklist of the Sicilian Native Edible Plants: Preserving the Traditional Ecological Knowledge of Century-Old Agro-Pastoral Landscapes. Frontiers in Plant Science. Volume 11|Article 388 (As Ficaria verna)
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