Buttercup
Scientific Name: Ranunculus spp.
Other Names: 20 species of buttercup exist in the Midwest
Life Cycle: Many are winter annuals, some perennials.
General Description: A basal rosette that has several branching stems. Flowers are yellow.
Seedlings: Cotyledons are ovate to round. Leaves form basal rosettes.
True Leaves and Stem: Stems
are slender, slightly hairy or hairless, branched from the base,
reaching six to twenty inches tall. Lower leaves are round, palmately
veined, bright green, with round-toothed margins and are located on long
stems arising from the base of the plant. Upper leaves are located on
shorter stems, alternate, and divided into three to five leaflets with
somewhat toothed margins.
Roots: Fibrous roots.
Flower and Fruit: Flowers are small, yellow, with five to seven oblong petals.