Ranunculus

Also known as buttercup, buttercups, persian butter cup, buttercup genus, `awa Kanaloa genus, crowfoot genus, makou genus

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.

AI overview

Ranunculus is a large group of about 1,750 species of flowering plants commonly known as buttercups, spearworts, and water crowfoots. These plants are notable for their diversity and widespread presence in the family Ranunculaceae, making them an important part of plant biodiversity.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Species

smörblommor

Ranunculus

GENUS

KingdomPlantae
PhylumTracheophyta
ClassMagnoliopsida
OrderRanunculales
FamilyRanunculaceae

Habitatbrackish, freshwater

Native toAfghanistan, Alabama, Alaska, Albania, Alberta, Aleutian Is., Algeria, Altay, Amsterdam-St.Paul Is., Amur, Angola, Antipodean Is.

Observations181,557

Observations recorded5,940,201

Common Name: buttercup

via GBIF · Kew POWO

Research

531 papers

Ranunculus ternatus Thunb. alkaloids attenuate colorectal cancer metastasis through EMT suppression.Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology · 2025Li Y, Ye L, Li S et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2025.156965
The genus Ranunculus L. (Ranunculus) in Asia: a review of its botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, toxicity, and pharmaceutical preparations.ReviewThe Journal of pharmacy and pharmacology · 2024Dai YL, Liu QZ, Wang J et al.DOI: 10.1093/jpp/rgad085
Therapeutic Potential of Ranunculus Species (Ranunculaceae): A Literature Review on Traditional Medicinal Herbs.ReviewPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Goo YKDOI: 10.3390/plants11121599
A new species of Ranunculus (Ranunculaceae) from Western Pamir-Alay, Uzbekistan.ReviewPhytoKeys · 2022Shchegoleva NV, Nikitina EV, Juramurodov IJ et al.DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.193.70757
Plant Extracts as Skin Care and Therapeutic Agents.ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Michalak MDOI: 10.3390/ijms242015444
Ranunculus species suppress nitric oxide production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages.Natural product research · 2022Marrelli M, De Marco CT, Statti G et al.DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2021.1920018
The complete chloroplast genome of Ranunculus ternatus (Ranunculaceae).Mitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources · 2023Qiao X, Wang Z, Sun W et al.DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2023.2278816
Inhibitory activities of Ranunculus japonicus Thunb. ethanol extract against hepatitis B virus.Journal of medical virology · 2022Luo M, Chen Z, Liu M et al.DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27621

via PubMed

Wikidata facts

Image: Creeping butercup close 800.jpg

Show 7 more facts

taxon name: Ranunculus
Commons category: Ranunculus
Commons gallery: Ranunculus
GRIN URL: npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomygenus.aspx?id=10248
taxon common name: makou genus
Montana Plant Life URL: montana.plant-life.org/cgi-bin/genus03.cgi?Ranunculaceae_Ranunculus
Flora of the Hawaiian Islands URL: naturalhistory2.si.edu/botany/hawaiianflora/genusdescr.cfm?genus=Ranunculus

Sources (6)

via Wikidata · CC0

~8 min read

Article

15 sections

Contents

Distribution
Fossil record
Description
Plant
Flowers
Reflective petals
Fruit
Naming
Splitting of the genus
Pharmacological activity
Toxicity
Species
References
Further reading
External links

Ranunculus is a large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots.

The genus is distributed worldwide, primarily in temperate and montane regions. The familiar and widespread buttercup of gardens throughout Northern Europe (and introduced elsewhere) is the creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens, which has extremely tough and tenacious roots. Two other species are also widespread, the bulbous buttercup Ranunculus bulbosus and the much taller meadow buttercup Ranunculus acris. In ornamental gardens, all three are often regarded as weeds.