23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock"

Summary

Buttercups & Blossoms: April’s Golden Wildflowers

As April unfolds, London’s meadows and woodlands come alive with golden buttercups and delicate ladies smock. From the marsh marigold’s witch-repelling magic to Wordsworth’s misremembered celandine, these blooms are steeped in folklore and hidden quirks. Did you know goldilocks buttercups clone themselves, or that ladies smock petals fold at night to guard their nectar?

Return on 23 April to uncover the secrets of these springtime treasures—where to find them, their curious histories, and why Shakespeare compared their petals to sunlit linen.

Article

Buttercups

Buttercups are now starting to make an appearance. Early species were marsh marigolds in marshy areas and celandines in woodland. Marsh marigold Caltha palastris is also called water blobs amongst a host of other names. This handsome plant is now the brightest in wet meadows and at the sides of many ponds. The flower buds were at one time pickled like capers. The flowers themselves were hung up on May Day to protect against witches and fairies, which were thought to be particularly active at this time. They also released a dye that was used to colour paper.

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

Goldilocks Ranunculus auricomus, with its rich shade of yellow petals, is also now starting to appear in woods. It is often recognised by not having a full set of petals, and its long stalked three-lobed leaves with notches. Unusually, it is capable of setting seed without being fertilised, which means that different patches in different woods can differ genetically and therefore have slightly different forms.

The more familiar meadow buttercup R. acris comes a little later in fields which are grazed and the creeping buttercup R. repens appears on damp lawns in gardens. In clean streams, a white buttercup, water crowfoot may also make its first appearance this month,

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

Another plant joining the group, which looks like a buttercup, is greater celandine Chelidonium majus. The cut stems quickly exude a custard yellow sap which was used to cure warts. The leaves of this plant were incorrectly engraved on Wordsworth’s monument at Hawkshead in the Lake District. It was confused by the sculptor with lesser celandine R. ficaria, which the poet was referring to when he wrote “There is a flower that shall be mine, T’is the little celandine”.

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

Ladies Smock or Cuckoo Flower

This is one of the most noticed wild flowers of the month. Shakespeare wrote

“When daisies pied and violets blue and lady’s smock all silver white,
and cuckoo buds of yellow do point the meadows with delight”.

In this passage, the plant is called lady’s smock on account of the fact the petals seem to shine in the sun and when found in patches reminded Shakespeare of linen. In his time, linen was laid out in the fields to dry.

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

These plants are always found in patches as the seeds are only fired a few centimetres. At night, the petals hang down to protect the sugar in the nectaries from being washed away. One suspect legend says the plant was discovered by Saint Helena growing under Christ’s manger and from that moment it grew wherever she trod.

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image

23-Apr Golden Blooms: Buttercups & Ladies Smock" Section Image