Common Water-crowfoot
Common Water-crowfoot
Water & Wetland Plant
A water buttercup that carpets ponds and slow streams with little white flowers — with floating leaves above and feathery, thread-like leaves below.
💡 Fun Facts
- This is a buttercup that lives in the water, with little white flowers that pop up just above the surface in early summer.
- It has two kinds of leaf — rounded ones that float, and feathery, thread-like ones that stream out underwater.
- A patch of water-crowfoot can cover a pond or a slow stream with a carpet of white flowers.
📅 Through the Year
- Flowering:May to June
Name Story
Ranunculus aquatilis
means “The 'little frog' buttercup of the water — named for where it grows, not how it looks”
What does its name mean?
- Ranunculus — little frogLatin
- aquatilis — living in the waterLatinDecode this word →
This is a buttercup that floats on ponds and slow streams, scattering little white flowers over the surface. 'Little frog' doesn't mean it looks like a frog — it means it lives in the same watery places that frogs love.