EARLY BUTTERCUP. Family: Buttercup (Ranunculaceae). Genus: Ranunculus (R. fascicularis). Height: 6–12 inches. Blooms April/May; BRISTLY BUTTERCUP (R. hispidus). Blooms April to June; LONGBEAK BUTTERCUP (R. longirostris); PRAIRIE, LABRADOR BUTTERCUP (R. rhomboideus). Height: 1–2 feet. Buttercup Ornamental Attributes: Shiny bright yellow often green-centered flowers, with some species blooming March to September. Good in rock gardens and as border plants. Cultivation: Sun. Well-drained or dry soil. Some buttercups need wet or moist soil. Note: Some buttercup species are endangered in parts of the Midwest. Name Note: Ranunculus, from the Latin rana (frog), means “little frog,” because many buttercup species grow near water. Nature Note: Buttercups attract skippers (Polites spp.), swallowtails (Papilionidae spp.), the silvery checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis), the eastern tailed-blue (Cupido comyntas), and butterflies that prefer yellow flowers like the gorgone checkerspot (Chlosyne gorgone), whose host plants include sunflowers (Helianthus spp.). See pp. 115–16, 138, 194. The major pollinators are flies such as syrphid flies and many bee species, including honeybees (Apis mellifera), little carpenter bees (Ceratina spp.), cuckoo bees (Nomada spp.), mason bees (Osmia spp.), halictid bees (Halictus spp., Lasioglossum spp.), and andrenid bees (Andrena spp.). Eastern chipmunks, gray squirrels, fox squirrels, and voles eat buttercup seeds, but the plants themselves are avoided by mammalian herbivores. Nonnative Note: Do not confuse the many nonnative buttercups with our native buttercups.
Early buttercup (Ranunculus fascicularis)
Gorgone checkerspot (Chlosyne gorgone)
Syrphid flies (Eristalis spp.)
Andrenid bees (Andrena spp.)
Sweat bee (Halictidae)
Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus)
More Native Alternatives:
ROCKCRESS (foliage), p. 20; COMMON CINQUEFOIL, p. 16; GOLDEN ALEXANDERS, p. 33; GOLDEN RAGWORT, p. 35; HOARY PUCCOON, p. 36; SUNDROPS, p. 115.
Nonnative:
BERGENIA, ELEPHANT EARS, PIGSQUEAK. Family: Saxifrage (Saxifragaceae). Genus: Bergenia (B. cordifolia). Origin: China, central and southeast Asia. Height: 7–24 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Red, white, pink, purple coarse funnel-shaped flowers. Clumps of glossy evergreen leaves become tattered. Cultivation: Sun/partial shade. Moist well-drained soil.
Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia)
Native Alternatives:
HEARTLEAF FOAMFLOWER, FALSE MITREWORT. Family: Saxifrage (Saxifragaceae). Genus: Tiarella (T. cordifolia). Height: 6–12 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Author Harriet Keeler wrote, “A single Tiarella by itself is an exceedingly beautiful plant but it also grows in mass sufficiently to make an impression by numbers.”11 Cultivation: Light shade. Rich moist soil. Note: Endangered in parts of the Midwest.
Heartleaf foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
More Saxifrage Family Native Alternatives:
ALUMROOT. Flowers begin blooming in spring. See p. 82.
BISHOP’S CAP, TWOLEAF MITERWORT. Genus: Mitella (M. diphylla). Height: 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Clusters of fringed delicate fairy-like flowers bloom for a month April to June. “Under a glass the starry blossoms of the Mitella become objects of wonderful beauty; in fact, they suggest the delicate crystals of snow,” wrote Harriet Keeler.12 Clumps of heart-shaped long-lasting evergreen leaves. Cultivation: Light or partial shade. Medium moist or average well-drained garden soil. Each flower is replaced by an open capsule that contains many small seeds, which are distributed by raindrops. They strike the capsule and cause it to bend, flinging some of its seeds. Nature Note: Pollinators include pollen-eating syrphid flies (p. 14) and species of short-tongued bees that seek nectar and collect pollen for their larvae.
More Native Alternatives:
COMMON CINQUEFOIL. Family: Rose (Rosaceae). Genus: Potentilla (P. simplex). Height: Mat-forming. Ornamental Attributes: Bright yellow flowers April to June. Cultivation: Sun/light shade. Dry soil. Nature Note: Small butterflies seek the nectar. The endangered Karner blue butterfly (Plebejus melissa) uses common cinquefoil “as a nectar source when available.”13 Its primary visitors are small bees and beneficial flies. The larvae of a gall wasp (Gonaspis sp.) forms galls on the stems that are sought by birds, including woodpeckers, such as northern flickers,which eat the larvae.
CANADIAN WILD GINGER, p. 76; FRINGED BLEEDING HEART, p. 17; GREEK VALERIAN, p. 10; VIRGINIA WATERLEAF, p. 48; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38; WILD STRAWBERRY, p. 61.
Common cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)
Northern flicker (Colaptes auratus)
Karner blue butterfly (Plebejus melissa)
Nonnative:
BLEEDING HEART, COMMON BLEEDING HEART. Family: Fumitory (Fumariaceae).
