I have attached a picture (I hope!) of a small perennial buttercup-like flower that has volunteered in my garden. It likes a damp shady location (with violets and trillium) and blooms at the same time as the daffodils. The leaves are shiny, heart-shaped and dark green. It grows low but is not very invasive. The closest I can come looking in my perennial book is cowslip but the flower petals are quite different and I think it is smaller - I put a pencil in the picture for comparison. I live in Coquitlam, BC - a rain forest like climate. Can anyone identify it?
Celandine? Don't know if the spelling is correct so you might have to play around with it a bit if you Google - sorry. Margaret
You are both right! I googled the name and Ranunculus Ficaria is also know as Lesser Celandine. Thankyou! I had asked several friends with no success and this website solved the mystery within an hour! By the way - the best part of the description of the flower was: "The plant grows from root-tubers, which are said to look like bunches of figs. This explains the scientific name of the plant, ficaria, which is Latin for fig. Another alternative name of this celandine, pilewort, also derives from the appearance of these knobbly tubers. Their general similarity to haemorrhoids led to the plant being widely used to treat this condition." How comforting to know I have this right outside my front door! :-)
I have a dark leaved variety of this plant - it's very pretty. It also disappears over the summer - the first year I thought it had died. Luckily I didn't accidently dig it up.
I love celandines as they remind me of the UK where they are very common. Did not know that they even grew in Canada but now I will look out for them. Margaret
