Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine, Ficaria Verna, (ficaria meaning ‘of a fig’ and being a reference to the root structure of the plant, and verna being a girl’s name of Latin origin meaning ‘springtime’), is one of the first flowers to raise its head in the spring.

Its common name Celandine comes from the Latin chelīdonius, which in turn originates from the Greek ‘khelidōn’ meaning Swallow, this is because the flowering of the Lesser Celandine was thought to coincide with the arrival in Europe of swallows from their wintering grounds in Africa, the theory being that when the flowers faded the swallows would also depart.

‘Little Frog’

It belongs to the genus Ranunculus, the buttercup family, and this scientific name comes from the Latin ‘rana’, meaning frog, and ‘culus’, meaning ‘little’, hence; ‘little frog’, this is thought to be because both frogs and Lesser Celandines are usually found in damp places.

The flowers of the Lesser Celandine are a radiant yellow and usually have around eight petals which are highly reflective on sunny days, lighting up the darkest hollows of the countryside, such as damp woodland glades, riverbanks and hedgerows, between February and May. They are also famous for their habit of opening in the sunshine and closing in the dark, seemingly worshipping the sun.

Scurvywort

They usually grow in clumps, spreading from small patches to form large carpets across the ground, with heart-shaped, deep glossy, green leaves which are quite often patterned with intricate mottled markings. The roots of the plant are a mass of white tubers which creep across the ground and take root in new locations, growing from the junction between the leaf and stem, called the ‘axil’.

These tubers will swell up to form slim, white bulbs which are reputedly delicious and can be eaten as a starchy vegetable, in central Europe the young parts of the plant are added to salads and they have medicinal properties too.

An alternative, old name for the plant is the ‘pilewort’, as the roots are supposedly a cure for piles and other ailments such as corns and another name is ‘scurvywort’ as its leaves contain high amounts of vitamin C which the sailor’s disease scurvy is caused by a lack of. The plant also contains a compound called ‘protoanemonin’ however, which makes the sap acrid and blistering, the amounts of this compound increase as the plant flowers, making the handling of it without gloves inadvisable.

Lesser Celandine was one of the poet William Wordsworth’s favourite flowers and was carved on his memorial at Westminster Abbey, it is said to have meant more to him than the Daffodil with which he is most commonly associated, as this gentle ode to the flower testifies;

‘There is a Flower, the Lesser Celandine,

That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain;

And, at the first moment that the sun may shine,

Bright as the sun itself, ’tis out again!’

From ‘The Small Celandine’, by William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

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