Sharp buttercup

Sharp buttercup
	Sharp buttercup ( Ranunculus acris ), illustration
Systematics
Order :	Buttercups (Ranunculales)
Family :	Buttercup Family (Ranunculaceae)
Subfamily :	Ranunculoideae
Tribe :	Ranunculeae
Genre :	Buttercup ( Ranunculus )
Type :	Sharp buttercup
Scientific name
	Ranunculus acris
	L.

The sharp buttercup ( Ranunculus acris ) is a species of the genus ( Ranunculus ) buttercup within the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). In some regions of Germany and in German-speaking Switzerland, it is sometimes referred to as buttercup - like some other yellow-flowering meadow flowers (compare, for example, creeping buttercup ).

description

Stem leaf

Flower from below with hairy, spreading tepals and petal-like nectar leaves

Young collective fruit with lots of beaten nuts

Habit of a particularly strong plant in a fertilized meadow

Appearance and foliage leaf

The sharp buttercup grows as a perennial herbaceous plant and reaches heights of between 30 and 110 centimeters. A rhizome is sometimes formed. The above-ground parts of the plant are bare. The stems and flower stalks are round and not furrowed.

The leaves are basal and arranged alternately on the stem . The relatively long stalked basal sheets have a pentagonal outline with a length of 1.8 to 5.2 centimeters and a width of 2.7 to 9.8 centimeters and are three to five parts, with one to three times deeply divided or lobed sections . The uppermost section is narrowly elliptical or oblong to lanceolate with a lobed to toothed edge and a pointed or rounded end. The stem leaves are three to five parts and are serrated. The higher up the leaves are on the stem, the shorter the petiole.

Generative characteristics

The flowering period extends from May to October. The hermaphrodite, radial symmetry flowers have a diameter of 1 to 2.5 centimeters. The base of the flower (receptaculum) is bare. The five coarsely haired, usually 4 to 6, rarely up to 9 millimeters long and 25 millimeters wide, sepal-like tepals are spread out (in the tuberous buttercup they are pushed back). The mostly five petal-like, bright golden yellow, slightly shiny nectar leaves (correspond to transformed stamens) are mostly 8 to 11 (up to 17) millimeters long and 7 to 13 millimeters wide. The nectar leaves have a basal scale in which the nectar gland is located.

In a spherical, capped collective crop with a diameter of usually 5 to 7 (up to 10) millimeters, many nuts stand together. The bald nuts are 2 to 3 millimeters long and 1.8 to 2.4 millimeters wide, the edge of which forms a rib that is 0.1 to 0.2 millimeters narrow. The durable beak is delta-shaped with a straight or curved, with a 0.2 to 1 millimeter short to long, awl-shaped tip. Fruit ripening is from July to October.

The chromosome number for the subspecies is Ranunculus acris subsp. acris and for Ranunculus acris subsp. friesianus each 2n = 14.

ecology

The sharp buttercup has roots up to 50 centimeters deep.

From an ecological point of view, it is about " nectar- bearing disc flowers". The flower visitors are numerous, but self-pollination is also successful. All-female plants (with smaller flowers) have also been observed in England.

The nuts, which weigh only 1.5 mg, can spread as gliders; in addition, intestinal spread by cattle and human spread is also possible.

Occurrence

The sharp buttercup has a wide distribution area in the northern hemisphere in Eurasia and North America . Within Europe it is only absent in Portugal and Turkey. It is very common in Central Europe .

It thrives at altitudes between 0 and 2300 meters, in places up to 2757 meters. Ranunculus acris grows in meadows and bushes . In Central Europe it mainly inhabits fat meadows , whose appearance it can shape during its heyday; on pastures it often stops in islands. The Sharp Buttercup thrives best on nutrient- and nitrogen-rich clay soils that should be moist but not excessively wet. It is a character species of the Molinio-Arrhenatheretea class and occurs optimally in societies of the arrhenatherion, polygono-trisetion and calthion associations, less often in those of the molinion or mesobromion associations.

Ingredients and toxicity

All parts of the plant, especially the roots, are poisonous.

The main active ingredients are ranunculin , protoanemonine , which, when dried, dimerizes very quickly to the less active anemonine and then converts to anemonic acid.

Symptoms of poisoning: Protoanemonin and anemonin are vermicidal and they have antibiotic activity. Anemonin has a spasmolytic effect. Poisoning is relatively rare in humans. Ingested, the juice causes burning in the mouth, vomiting, stomach and abdominal pain, diarrhea , general body aches , convulsive fits, numbness, dizziness, decreased cardiac output and dyspnoea .

In the case of livestock , poisoning usually only occurs when the sharp buttercup occurs in large numbers in pastures or when fresh buttercups are fed to the animals. The dried plant (for example hay ) is practically ineffective due to the dimerization of the protoanemonine and therefore harmless to livestock even in large quantities.

The sap causes reddening, swelling and blistering of the skin. Ulcer and gangrene-like reactions can occur. It is an irritative, i.e. H. not allergic appearance. Inflammations on the mucous membranes of the nose and eyes, on the other hand, are caused by the pollen of the buttercup; they cause hay fever as an inhalative allergy of the immediate type.

Subspecies

In Europe there are four subspecies of Ranunculus acris :

Ranunculus acris L. subsp. acris
Ranunculus acris subsp. borealis (rule) Nyman , occurs in Europe especially in the northeast
Ranunculus acris subsp. friesianus (Jordan) Rouy & Fouc. , Home in Europe: Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Greece, otherwise also abducted
Ranunculus acris subsp. pumilus (Wahlenb.) Á.Löve & D.Löve , occurs in Europe in the far north, especially in Iceland

Double flowering variety Ranunculus acris 'Multiplex'

Cultivar

Ranunculus acris 'Multiplex' is a striking, bright yellow double-flowered variety of the common buttercup. This ornamental plant blooms from May to June and reaches heights of about 60 centimeters. It thrives in near-natural gardens, preferably near water.

swell

Alan T. Whittemore: Ranunculus. : Ranunculus acris - the same text online as the printed work , In: Flora of North America Editorial Committee (Ed.): Flora of North America North of Mexico. Volume 3: Magnoliidae and Hamamelidae , Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford 1997, ISBN 0-19-511246-6 . (Sections Description and Occurrence)
Ruprecht Düll , Herfried Kutzelnigg : Pocket dictionary of plants in Germany and neighboring countries. The most common Central European species in portrait. 7th, corrected and enlarged edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01424-1 .

Web links

Commons : Sharp buttercup ( Ranunculus acris ) - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Sharp buttercup. In: FloraWeb.de.
Sharp buttercup . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
Distribution map for Germany. In: Floraweb . Ranunculus acris subsp. friesianus
Ranunculus acris L. s. l. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
Ranunculus acris L. s. st. In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
Ranunculus acris subsp. friesianus (Jord.) Syme In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved October 20, 2015.
Distribution in the northern hemisphere according to: Eric Hultén , Magnus Fries: Atlas of North European vascular plants 1986, ISBN 3-87429-263-0
Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
Toxins of the sharp buttercup on gifte.de .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 411 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c Dietmar Aichele, Hans-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe , Volume 2, yew plants to butterfly plants. 2nd revised edition, Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer, Kurt Kormann: Toxic Plants - Plant Poisons. Occurrence, effect, therapy, allergic and phototoxic reactions. With a special section about poisonous animals. 6th, revised edition. Special edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .
↑ Jaakko Jalas, Juha Suominen: Atlas florae europaeae. Volume 8 (Nymphaeaceae to Ranunculaceae). Pp. 125-127, Helsinki 1989. ISBN 951-9108-07-6

[Oberdorfer2001-1] Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp. 411 .

[Aichele2000-2] Dietmar Aichele, Hans-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe , Volume 2, yew plants to butterfly plants. 2nd revised edition, Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08048-X .

[Roth2012-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Lutz Roth, Max Daunderer, Kurt Kormann: Toxic Plants - Plant Poisons. Occurrence, effect, therapy, allergic and phototoxic reactions. With a special section about poisonous animals. 6th, revised edition. Special edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86820-009-6 .

[Jalas1989-4] Jaakko Jalas, Juha Suominen: Atlas florae europaeae. Volume 8 (Nymphaeaceae to Ranunculaceae). Pp. 125-127, Helsinki 1989. ISBN 951-9108-07-6