Ficaria verna Hudson

Locations ofFicaria verna Hudson in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Ranunculaceae
Botanical Name
Ficaria verna Hudson
Common Name
Lesser Celandine
Synonym(s)
Ranunculus ficaria L.
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Ficaria verna Hudson
Comments
Recognition of varieties or subspecies is somewhat controversial, but a paper by Post et al. (2009, J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 3: 193-209) found "five entities that can be reasonably referred to subspecies" based on morphometric data. Of these, they ascribe ssp. verna and ssp. calthifolia to Virginia. Most of our material, with leaves crowded at the base and very few on the short stems, seems to represent the latter. But this weedy species exhibits considerable variation within populations and over its developmental period, sometimes obscuring the subspecific boundaries. Therefore, we are treating it only at the species level.
Habitat
Floodplain forests, rich upland forests, and disturbed urban forests; a very shade-tolerant, invasive exotic. Locally common in the Potomac River and James River watersheds, and becoming so elsewhere. Based on recent records, this species is spreading rapidly and is often rampantly invasive.
Native Status
Introduced

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