What are those yellow weeds growing in the fields and yards?

For the last several weeks around middle Tennessee there have been an abundance of yellow flowers clustering across fields and throughout many large yards. I have had many people asking me what they are and how do you get rid of them, to which I reply they'll be gone in a few weeks. Well at least the blooms will be gone. Come on everyone, at least admit they are a rather striking flower with their waxy and brightly colored yellow blooms standing erect with the green of the spring grasses behind them. Many folks around here have even committed of late how each year there seems to be more and more of these flowers popping up in everywhere. And yes, that would be an astute observation concerning this "wild" perennial.

So what is this flower? Well it actually goes by several common names, but the one I am most familiar with is Meadow Buttercup. Some folks call it Tall Buttercup, but it's scientific name is Ranunculus acris, a member of the Buttercup family. It is commonly recognized as an invasive species as reported by the Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, as well as other recognized resources. It is found throughout North America and Europe. It reportedly is native to Europe, but was introduced into the North America ecosystem and has done very well as many have noticed. It can reach heights of 1-3 feet, with it's one-inch yellow blooms residing on its somewhat spindly stems extending skyward from the somewhat hairy plant.

The plant is considered poisonious, and with some people it can cause contact dermatitis due to the presence of the glucoside ranunculin. Everyone notices that horses and cattle will not eat the plant and this is also due to the presence of ranunculin which can cause inflamation of the digestive system, however, it is safe when found dried in hay. The name acris means sharp and pungent describing well the juice from this plant. While the plant has reported uses in folk or Native American medicine, it is generally advised to avoid the use of this plant due to the toxicity.

The Meadow buttercup employs both seed and vegetative reproduction but seed appears to be the most common method. Interestingly it is reported that the plant passes the winter as a rosette of small leaves that apparently are unaffected by frost. Due to short rhizomes vegatative reproduction occurs very close to the parent plant resulting in very tight colonies of individual plants.


While the plant may be invasive it does provide a striking color against the vivid greens of spring grass. As with most invasives that have established themselves in an area, eradication is difficult and time consuming. There have been reports of some species developing resistance to herbicides but I have not seen reports of acris being resistant. So some broad leave weed killers may be effective in controlling the plant, but for me I think I will just enjoy the yellow flowers from April till late May and control the ones I can through mowing.