Creeping Buttercup Species

Identification

• Growing 8 to 12 inches tall, creeping buttercup has bright yellow flowers blooming from spring through late summer against dark green leaves and stalks. Look for splashes of white or light coloring on the leaves. It will grow year-round in mild climates, but in areas of the growing zone where winters regularly drop below freezing, this herbaceous perennial will die back at the end of the growing season. In winter, creeping buttercup goes dormant, but it's not gone. Look for new green shoots first thing in the spring when the soil starts to warm up.

Creeping Habit

• A few creeping buttercup plants look benign but if you leave this tenaciously spreading plant alone, it could cover a 40-square-foot area within 12 months, according to King County, Washington. The common name comes from the plant's ability to creep, literally putting out horizontal runner stems on top of the soil. The stems, called stolons, take root a short distance from the original plant and grow into a mature plant that then starts sending out more stolons.

Preferred Habitat

• You are most likely to find creeping buttercup in wet areas where this moisture-loving plant thrives. A non-native weed, it will take over marshes and wetlands, smothering native vegetation with its ability to spread rapidly. It also grows well anywhere that gets regular water, like lawns and cultivated garden beds. It thrives in the sun or in light shade, but this tenacious plant will even grow in deeply shaded areas.

Eradication

• You can mow it down but creeping buttercup will come back, just shorter in an attempt to avoid the mover blades. To get rid of creeping buttercup, dig out the plants by the roots and follow any runner stems and get rid of them too. Get the plants before the flowers die. After creeping buttercups flower, they make seeds. Once the seeds scatter, they can lay dormant under the soil for 20 years and then sprout, starting the whole invasion over again, according to King County, Washington.