Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Temperate grassland

Range

Europe and temperate Eurasia

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Common

About

The meadow buttercup produces glossy, five-petaled yellow flowers atop branched stems that can reach 1 m tall. All parts of the plant contain protoanemonin, a toxic compound that blisters skin on contact and can sicken livestock that graze on it fresh.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Ranunculales

Family

Ranunculaceae

Genus

Ranunculus

Species

Ranunculus acris