Ficaria verna Huds.
(Lesser Celandine)

Familiar early spring woodland flowers. The stored energy in its tubers enables it to get flowering over before the canopy closes.

A species complex comprising Ficaria verna s.s. with a chromosome number of 2n=16 (diploid) and several tetraploids with 2n=32. Triploids (2n=24) also occur and are presumed to be hybrids between Ficaria verna s.s. and one of the tetraploids.

There are also numerous (>20) garden varieties with larger and/or differently coloured petals, bronze foliage, flore pleno etc. Some of these may escape, introgress or be thrown out with garden rubbish.

To distinguish the subspecies, look for:

bulbils in the axils

whether abundant or very little seed is formed

petal length

empty pollen grains (microscope)

no of chloroplasts per stomatal guard cell (microscope)

The bulbils are about the size and colour of a grain of wheat. Unfortunately these only become obvious after flowering. However, peeling back the petiole on the lowest leaves will reveal small pale bulbils even while still in flower. If there is no sign of bulbils in the lowest axils by the time the first petals have dropped, the plant can safely be taken to be non-bulbiliferous.