Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Small
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: Europe
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Runners
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Creeping buttercup colonises lawns and damp ground by sending out long stolons that root at every node, letting a single plant blanket a garden bed in one season. Its glossy yellow petals contain a sub-epidermal starch layer that acts as a mirror, reflecting UV light to guide pollinators.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Ranunculus
Species: Ranunculus repens