For Your Garden - September 2021

Native plants provide beauty as well as food and shelter for wildlife. Native species are adapted to the Illinois climate. They require little or no watering and are resistant to drought, insects and most diseases. Because they are perennials, you can welcome their presence year after year.

marsh buttercup (Ranunculus septentrionalis)
Photo © River Valley Photographic Resources Ltd., rvprltd.com

Marsh buttercup grows in bottomland woods, wet ditches and swampy areas throughout Illinois. Its stems are often horizontal instead of upright. The plant may reach one to three feet tall. Its leaves have three segments, each of which is toothed and lobed. Flowers are produced from April through July and again from September through October. The flowers are yellow with five petals. The petals have a waxy appearance. The fruits are small, hard and dry.

Classification and taxonomy are based on Mohlenbrock, Robert H. 2014. Vascular flora of Illinois: A field guide. Fourth edition. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 536 pp.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae