Bulbous Buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus) — quick ID and why it matters

Few garden flowers look harmless like the bright yellow bulbous buttercup, but this plant can cause real trouble if you touch or eat it. If you handle pastures, hike with kids, or work around hay, knowing how to spot and deal with bulbous buttercup keeps you and animals safer.

Identification is straightforward. Bulbous buttercup has shiny, cup-shaped yellow flowers with five petals. Leaves are divided into three lobes and the plant often grows low to the ground. A small, bulb-like swelling at the base of the stem gives it the name “bulbous.” You’ll usually see it in pastures, roadside verges and disturbed ground from spring into early summer.

The plant makes a chemical called protoanemonin when it’s crushed or chewed. That chemical irritates skin and mucous membranes. Fresh plants are far more likely to cause problems; dried buttercups in cured hay lose most of their toxicity, but badly made hay can still be risky.

Health risks and common symptoms

For skin contact: protoanemonin causes redness, burning and blisters. People with sensitive skin or repeated exposure can develop a patchy dermatitis. For ingestion: mouths and throats burn, saliva increases, and nausea, vomiting or diarrhea can follow. Symptoms usually start quickly — within minutes to a few hours.

Children, pets and grazing animals are the highest risk. Cows, sheep and horses can stop eating, drool, show abdominal pain, or have diarrhea after grazing lots of buttercup. Severe poisoning is uncommon but can happen if large amounts are eaten, especially by smaller animals.

First aid and treatment you can do now

If the plant touches skin: wash the area with soap and water right away, remove contaminated clothing, and apply a cool compress for pain. Don’t break blisters; cover them with a clean dressing and see a doctor if the rash worsens or spreads.

If someone swallows the plant: rinse their mouth with water and give small sips to drink. Don’t make them vomit unless a poison control expert or doctor tells you to. Call your local poison control center or seek medical care if there’s significant swallowing, persistent vomiting, breathing trouble, or if a child or pet ate the plant.

For livestock: remove animals from the contaminated field, offer clean feed, and contact your veterinarian. Treatment is mostly supportive — fluids, stomach protectants, and monitoring. Tell the vet what and how much the animal ate and when symptoms started.

Prevention is simple and effective: wear gloves when pulling plants, mow fields before they flower, keep kids and pets away from dense patches, and avoid feeding fresh buttercups to animals. If you ever doubt the severity, call your local poison control or your vet — they’ll want the plant ID, timing and symptoms.

Bulbous buttercup looks pretty but can hurt. Spot it early, act fast on exposure, and you’ll usually avoid big problems.