While working in the demonstration gardens is usually an exercise in pleasant discoveries, we recently came across one plant we’d rather not find! Lesser celandine (Ficaria verna) is an introduced species that has become an increasingly widespread invader in our area. This member of the buttercup (Ranunculus) family looks innocuous enough, with shiny green leaves and bright yellow blooms that are deceptively cheerful. However, it spread aggressively through seeds, tubers and bulblets, forming dense mats that can cover huge areas. These mats can quickly choke out many native spring ephemerals such as bloodroot, May apple and trillium.
It can be easy to confuse this invader with the lovely native marsh marigold (Caltha palustris). However, marsh marigold’s glossy leaves are finely toothed, while those of lesser celandine are smooth. Additionally, marsh marigold doesn’t form large mats, but grows individually, and only in very wet areas.
If you spot lesser celandine in your landscape, act promptly to remove it–like native spring ephemerals, it will disappear quickly as the season advances. Dig it up, being careful to get all the roots and bulblets. Bag them up securely and burn or dispose of them in the trash. Unfortunately, this plant is still available for sale in the nursery trade, so we must all do our part to slow the spread!
