Creeping Buttercup (Ranunculus repens).
Creeping Buttercup is a common perennial weed that you find in turf and lawns, particularly in wet, poorly drained soil. This weed crowds out other plants, depletes Potassium in the soil, and is a good indicator weed of poorly draining soils.
It reduces pasture productivity, impedes water flow in drains, and is toxic to stock.
Creeping buttercup rapidly spreads by stolons, which are long runners at the soil surface that root at each node. It quickly displaces native plants, and favours disturbed and nutrient rich soils. It can spread over 4 m2 in a year.
Creeping Buttercup is poisonous, and contains a compound called ranunculin. When you crush or bruise the leaves, ranunculin breaks down to form an acrid, toxic oil that causes dermatitis.
You see symptoms within an hour of contact with Creeping Buttercup. The symptoms include burning and itching as well as rashes and blisters. If you chew the leaves, blisters can form on the lips and face. If you swallow it, severe stomachl irritation can follow, along with dizziness, spasms, and paralysis. The toxic oil is also an eye irritant.
The distribution map for Creeping Buttercup is courtesy of The Atlas of Living Australia.
After you finish reading this, you will be able to:
- Identify Creeping Buttercup.
- Know its habitat.
- Know the best cultural and chemical ways to control this weed.
Key Takeaways.
- As with all members of this family, Creeping Buttercup is poisonous.
- It spreads by seed and stolons.
- It indicates poor soil drainage.
- Cultural control alone does not deal with this weed.
- You get the best herbicide control of Creeping Buttercup with 2 or 3-way mixes that contain 2,4-D, MCPA, and Dicamba.
How to Identify Creeping Buttercup.
New plants form a rosette of leaves and stems, and some stems act as stolons. The stolons grow along the soil surface, and produce shoots and roots at the nodes.
Category: Broadleaf (Dicot).
Photosynthetic Pathway: C3 Weed.
Flower: The flowers are glossy yellow with five petals, and are 2 to 3 cm in diameter. You can see these flowers in the Spring and Summer.
Height: Creeping Buttercup is up to 50 cm tall.
Leaf length: The compound basal leaves of Creeping Buttercup are on a 4 to 20 cm long petiole. This divides into three broad leaflets 1.5 to 8 cm long, that are shallow to deeply lobed, and on stalks. As you move up the stem the leaves become smaller, with narrower leaflets and these may be simple or lance shaped.
Reproduction: Creeping Buttercup spreads by seeds and creeping stolons.
Comments: Both the stems and the leaves of Creeping Buttercup have a cover of fine hairs.
Habitat: This weed is often found in poorly drained, wet soils, and sunny or shaded areas.
For more information on weeds check out our weed ID Chart.
How to control Creeping Buttercup.
You can control Creeping Buttercup by cultural and chemical means, but the best way to manage this weed is if you adopt an integrated approach.
Cultural control of Creeping Buttercup:
- This is a shallow-rooted weed. This means that you can dig it up by hand, but you must make sure that you remove all root and stem fragments.
- It is easier to remove Creeping Buttercup over the Autumn and Spring when the soil is moist.
- If you improve the turf density it reduces Creeping Buttercup infestations, so.
- Fertilize properly.
- Mow at the right height. Mowing does not directly control Creeping Buttercup, but if you rake before you mow it lifts the stolons and prostrate stems.
- Improve the drainage, and do not over water.
- Use turf grasses adapted to the site conditions.
Chemical control of Creeping Buttercup.
- Treat Creeping Buttercup when it is actively growing from the Spring to Autumn.
- Herbicide treatments are less effective if the plants are under stress due to a lack of water.
- Be aware that even when you treat this weed with a herbicide, Creeping Buttercup tends to regrow. This means that you must be ready re-treat if you see any signs of regrowth.
Post Emergent Control of Creeping Buttercup.
You can control or suppress this weed with post emergent herbicides.
Post emergent options for Creeping Buttercup should contain combinations of 2,4-D, MCPA, Prosulfuron and Dicamba. Suitable options include:
- Casper Turf Herbicide (Do not use on Buffalo Turf).
- ProForce Warhead.
- ProForce Weed Blast MA
- Dicamba (Do not use on Buffalo Turf) and
- Contra M.
Non Selective Control of Creeping Buttercup.
Non selective options include:
- Glyphosate (Rapid Fire 800)
- Numchuk Quad and
- Cortex Duo.
If you use Glyphosate to control Creeping Buttercup, and water quality is an issue then we recommend the use of ProForce Manta Ray.
