Lesser Celandine (Ranunculus ficaria)

Lesser celandine can flower in sheltered spots from Christmas onwards but it is in April they are at their best and beginning to appear almost everywhere in the countryside. Soon there are carpets of them on banks, in woodlands, along hedgerows, on river sides, in fact all over the place. They are certainly a common sight around the parks and gardens of Sidmouth.

The bright, cheery faces of the lesser celandine glisten in the spring sunlight and are another reminder of the transformation that occurs before our very eyes every spring.

The lesser celandine is a member of the buttercup family, Ranunculacae. There is a greater celandine which is not a Ranunculus and looks nothing like the lesser! That just goes to show why we use Latin names for precision in identification and not common English country names which can often be very confusing.