Meadow Buttercup (Ranunculus acris)












































Late May is when the meadow buttercup is at its best. Although it flowers through to August now is the best time to see damp meadows covered in this lovely flower.

The water meadows between Fiddleford and Sturminster Newton in Dorset are just golden now with these buttercups. From a distance you might think that rapeseed is growing there but as you get closer you become overwhelmed with the number of buttercups.

If you struggle telling buttercups apart, the meadow buttercup is a tall plant that grows up higher than the surrounding grass, has multiple flowers on each stalk and thin, 'spidery' leaves.

It grows in untreated meadows but does seem to prosper best in fields by rivers that regularly flood during the winter.

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