Diohio's Garden
Celandine, Lesser, Pilewort
Genus: Ranunculus.
Species: Ranunculus ficaria.
This wildflower likes moist places. I rescued this from a ditch near my mother's house in PA where they were to build a new shopping center. It has really spread and this spring I'm finding new little clumps of it many feet away from the origional. The flowers are yellow but when they start to fade, parts of the petals may turn white.
The common name Pilewort alludes to the folk medicinal use of the astringent root to treat hemerrhoids (piles). This plant has also been implicated in the poisoning of livestock that graze on it.
