Lesser celandine (Fig Buttercup) – Control

Q: Can someone identify this? It’s everywhere this year.

A: It is lesser celandine (fig buttercup), Ficaria verna. Although the yellow flowers are attractive, it grows so quickly that it chokes out other plans. Ferns, trillium, and other spring ephemerals disappear with this competition.

This weed is hard to control. If you try to dig it out, the plant leaves tubers in the ground, which will re-sprout next year.

You can spray it with Roundup or herbicidal soap but you’ll have to be persistent for a couple of years to master this plant.

Fig buttercup

Invasive buttercup

Celandine control

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