''Caltha palustris'', known as marsh-marigold and kingcup, is a small to medium sized

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

of the buttercup family,

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es,

fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...

s, ditches and wet

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions of the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

. It flowers between April and August, dependent on altitude and latitude, but occasional flowers may occur at other times.

Description

''Caltha palustris'' is a high, hairless, fleshy, perennial, herbaceous plant that dies down in autumn and overwinters with buds near the surface of the marshy soil. The plants have many, thick strongly branching roots. Its flowering stems are hollow, erect or more or less decumbent. The

alternate Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an alternative to mainstream superh ...

true leaves are in a rosette, each of which consist of a petiole that is about four times as long as the kidney-shaped leaf blade, which is between long and wide. The leaf possesses a heart-shaped foot, a blunt tip, and a scalloped to toothed, sometime almost entire margin particularly towards the tip. In their youth the leaves are protected by a membranous sheath, that may be up to long in fully grown plants.

Inflorescence

The common marsh-marigold mostly has several flowering stems of up to long, carrying mostly several seated leaflike

stipule In botany, a stipule is an outgrowth typically borne on both sides (sometimes on just one side) of the base of a leafstalk (the petiole (botany), petiole). They are primarily found among dicots and rare among monocots. Stipules are considered part ...

s, although lower ones may be on a short petiole; and between four and six (but occasionally as few as one or as many as 25) flowers. The flowers are approximately but range between in diameter. There are four to nine (mostly five) petal-like, brightly colored (yolk yellow, white or magenta), inverted egg-shaped

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s, each about but ranging from long, and about , ranging from wide; they have a blunt or sometimes acute tip. Real

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s and

nectar Nectar is a viscous, sugar-rich liquid produced by Plant, plants in glands called nectaries, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollination, pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to an ...

ies are lacking. Between 50 and 120

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s with flattened yellow filaments and yellow tricolpate or sometimes pantoporate

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by most types of flowers of seed plants for the purpose of sexual reproduction. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced Gametophyte#Heterospory, microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm ...

encircle 5–25 free, flattened, linear-oblong, yellow to green

carpel Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more ...

s, with a two-lobed, obliquely positioned stigma, and each with many seedbuds. This later develops into a seated, funnel-shaped fruit (a so-called follicle) of long and wide, that opens with one suture at the side of the axis and contains 7–20 ovoid, brown to black seeds of about .

Taxonomy

Taxonomic history

The oldest

description Description is any type of communication that aims to make vivid a place, object, person, group, or other physical entity. It is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as ''modes of discourse''), along with exposition, argumentation, and narr ...

that is generally acknowledged in the botanical literature dates from 1700 under the name ''Populago'' by

Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Li ...

i
part 1 of his Institutiones rei herbariae
He distinguished between ''P. flore major'', ''P. flore minor'' and ''P. flore plena'', and already says all of these are synonymous to ''Caltha palustris'', without mentioning any previous author. As a plant name published before 1 May 1753, ''Populago'' Tourn. is invalid. And so is the first description as ''Caltha palustris'' by

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

in his

Genera Plantarum ''Genera Plantarum'' is a publication of Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). The first edition was issued in Leiden, 1737. The fifth edition served as a complementary volume to ''Species Plantarum'' (1753). Article 13 of the Internat ...

of 1737. But Linnaeus re-describes the species under the same name in

Species Plantarum ' (Latin for "The Species of Plants") is a book by Carl Linnaeus, originally published in 1753, which lists every species of plant known at the time, classified into genus, genera. It is the first work to consistently apply binomial nomenclature ...

of 1 May 1753, thus providing the correct name.

Etymology

The generic name ''Caltha'' is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

(), meaning "goblet", and is said to refer to the shape of the flower. The species

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

''palustris'' is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat. In the UK, ''Caltha palustris'' is known by a variety of vernacular names, varying by geographical region. These include in addition to the most common two, marsh marigold and kingcup, also brave bassinets, crazy Beth, horse blob, Molly-blob, May blob, mare blob, boots, water boots, meadow-bright, bullflower, meadow buttercup, water buttercup, soldier's buttons, meadow cowslip, water cowslip, publican's cloak, crowfoot, water dragon, drunkards, water goggles, meadow gowan, water gowan, yellow gowan, goldes, golds, goldings, gools, cow lily, marybuds, and publicans-and-sinners. The common name "marigold" refers to its use in medieval churches at Easter as a tribute to the Virgin Mary, as in "Mary gold". In North America ''Caltha palustris'' is sometimes known as cowslip. However, cowslip more often refers to ''

Primula veris ''Primula veris'', the cowslip, common cowslip, or cowslip primrose (syn. ''Primula officinalis'' John Hill (author), ), is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the Primula vulgaris, primrose family (biology), family Primulaceae. The specie ...

'', the original plant to go by that name. Both are herbaceous plants with yellow flowers, but ''Primula veris'' is much smaller.

Subdivision, synonymy and culture varieties

''Caltha palustris'' is a very variable species. Since most character states occur in almost any combination, this provides little basis for subdivisions. The following varieties are nevertheless widely recognised. They are listed with their respective

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

. If an

based on the same

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

is used at different levels, only the use at the highest

taxonomic rank In biology, taxonomic rank (which some authors prefer to call nomenclatural rank because ranking is part of nomenclature rather than taxonomy proper, according to some definitions of these terms) is the relative or absolute level of a group of or ...

is listed, so as ''C. himalensis'' is already listed, ''C. palustris'' var. ''himalensis'' is not. * Yellow sepals, pollen tricolpate, not rooting at the nodes.
→ ''C. palustris'' var. ''palustris'' = ** ''C. palustris'' forma ''decumbens'', f. ''erecta'', f. ''gigas'', f. ''plena'', f. ''plurisepala'', f. ''pratensis'' ** ''C. palustris'' subvar. ''palmata'' ** ''C. palustris''

var. In botanical nomenclature, variety (abbreviated var.; in ) is a taxonomic rank below that of species and subspecies, but above that of Form (botany), form. As such, it gets a three-part Infraspecific name (botany), infraspecific name. It is s ...

''acuteserrata'', var. ''bosnica'', var. ''crenata'', var. ''cuneata'', var. ''dentata'', var. ''ficariaeformis'', var. ''holubyi'', var. ''minima'', var. ''nipponica'', var. ''orbicularis'', var. ''ranunculiflora'', var. ''recurvirostris'', var. ''siberica'' (Regel, 1861), var. ''stagnalis'', var. ''umbrosa'' ** ''C. palustris'' ssp. ''thracica'' ** ''C. alpestris'', ''C. alpina'', ''C. asarifolia'', ''C. barthei'', ''C. confinis'', ''C. cornuta'', ''C. elata'', ''C. ficarioides'', ''C. fistulosa'', ''C. grosse-serrata'', ''C. guerrangerii'', ''C. himalensis'', ''C. integerrima'', ''C. intermedia'', ''C. laeta'', ''C. latifolia'', ''C. longirostris'', ''C. major'', ''C. minor'', ''C. orthorhyncha'', ''C. pallidiflora'', ''C. parnassifolia'', ''C. polypetala'', ''C. procumbens'', ''C. pumila'', ''C. pygmea'', ''C. ranunculoides'', ''C. riparia'', ''C. silvestris'', ''C. vulgaris'' * Yellow sepals, pollen tricolpate, smaller plants, with few-flowered decumbent stems rooting at the nodes after flowering. Grows at the northern edges of the distribution area of the species and on erosion prone banks.
→ ''C. palustris'' var. ''radicans'' = ** ''C. palustris'' var. ''aleutensis'', var. ''siberica'' (Tolmachev, 1955) ** ''C. arctica'', ''C. cespitosa'', ''C. flabellifolia'', ''C. zetlandica'' * Yellow sepals, pollen tricolpate, larger plants, with many-flowered erect stems rooting at the nodes after flowering. Occurs in the Netherlands in a fresh water tidal zone ( De Biesbosch).
→ ''C. palustris'' var. ''araneosa'' (only generally recognised in the Netherlands) * White sepals, pollen pantoporate or sometimes tricolpate. Between 2200 and 3500 m along rivulets in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the western Himalayas from Kashmir to northern India.
→ ''C. palustris'' var. ''alba'' = ** ''C. palustris'' forma ''alpina'', f. ''sylvatica'' ** ''C. alba'' * Magenta sepals, pollen tricolpate. Between 4000 and 5000 m in alpine meadows and mossy slopes between shrubs and tall herbs in the eastern Himalayas of Assam and southern Tibet.
→ ''C. palustris'' var. ''purpurea'' = ** ''C. rubriflora'' File:Caltha palustris alba 03.JPG, ''C. palustris'' var. ''alba'' File:Caltha sinogracilis rubriflora.jpg, ''C. palustris'' var. ''purpurea'' File:Caltha palustris var himalensis W IMG 7242.jpg, ''C. palustris'' var. ''palustris'' File:Caltha palustris MHNT.BOT.2005.0.967.jpg, opened follicles File:Caltha palustris seeds USDA.jpg, seeds The 2006–2007 edition of the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

''Plant Finder'', a British publication which lists over 70,000 plants available in nurseries in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, lists in addition to these varieties the following

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

s: Single flowered: "Marilyn", "Trotter's form", "Yellow Giant". Double flowered: "Flore Pleno" (RHS's

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

), "Multiplex", "Plena", "Semiplena".

Distribution and habitat

The species is

es,

s, ditches and wet

regions of the

. It can be found in much of the northeastern United States.

Ecology

The marsh-marigold grows in places with oxygen-rich water near the surface of the soil. It likes richer soils, but dislikes application of

fertilizer A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Man ...

and avoids high concentrations of

phosphate Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of the element phosphorus. In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthop ...

and

ammonium Ammonium is a modified form of ammonia that has an extra hydrogen atom. It is a positively charged (cationic) polyatomic ion, molecular ion with the chemical formula or . It is formed by the protonation, addition of a proton (a hydrogen nucleu ...

, and is also shy of brackish water. It is often associated with seepage that is rich in iron, because iron ions react with phosphate, thus making it unavailable for plants. The resulting

insoluble In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a substance, the solute, to form a solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form such a solution. The extent of the solub ...

mineral appears as "rusty"

flocs In colloidal chemistry, flocculation is a process by which colloidal particles come out of suspension to sediment in the form of floc or flake, either spontaneously or due to the addition of a clarifying agent. The action differs from precipi ...

on the water soil and the surface of the stems of marsh plants. Around the

edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

of lakes and rivers it grows between reeds, and it can be found in black alder

coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...

s and other regularly flooded and always moist forests. When it is present it often visually dominates when it is in bloom. It also used to be common on wet

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

s, but due to agricultural rationalization it is now limited to ditches. It is a component of

purple moor grass and rush pastures Purple moor grass and rush pastures is a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the southwest of England, especially in Devon. ...

– a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. In western Europe, the marsh-marigold moth ''

Micropterix calthella ''Micropterix calthella'', the marsh marigold moth, is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae. It is found in damp habitats throughout Europe (except for the far south) and is also distributed eastwards to central Siberia. It ...

'' bites open the

anther The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s of the marsh-marigold and other plants to eat the

. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s that are present in summer and autumn also feed on marsh-marigold, although these are sometimes found on mosses too. Another visitor of ''Caltha palustris'' in western Europe is the leaf beetle ''Prasocuris phellandrii'', which is black with four orange stripes and around ½ cm and eats the sepals. Its larvae inhabit the hollow stems of members of the parsley family. In the USA (Illinois) two species of leaf beetle can be found on Caltha: ''Plateumaris nitida'' and ''Hydrothassa vittata''. The maggots of some ''Phytomyza'' species ( Agromyzidae) are miners in ''Caltha'' leaves.

Pollination

The flowers produce both nectar and copious amounts of pollen which attract many insect visitors. They may be most commonly pollinated by hoverflies (Syrphidae). In Canada, beetles (

Cantharidae The soldier beetles (Cantharidae) are relatively soft-bodied, straight-sided beetles. They are Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan in distribution. One of the first described species has a color pattern reminiscent of the Red coat (Bri ...

Nitidulidae The sap beetles, also known as Nitidulidae, are a family of beetles. They are small (2–6 mm) ovoid, usually dull-coloured beetles, with knobbed antennae. Some have red or yellow spots or bands. They feed mainly on decaying vegetable ma ...

Coccinellidae Coccinellidae () is a widespread family (biology), family of small beetles. They are commonly known as ladybugs in North America and ladybirds in the United Kingdom; "lady" refers to Mary, mother of Jesus, mother Mary. Entomologists use the ...

Chrysomelidae The beetle family Chrysomelidae, commonly known as leaf beetles, includes over 37,000 (and probably at least 50,000) species in more than 2,500 genera, making it one of the largest and most commonly encountered of all beetle families. Numerous s ...

Cerambycidae The longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae), also known as long-horned or longicorns (whose larvae are often referred to as roundheaded borers), are a large family of beetles, with over 35,000 species described. Most species are characterized by anten ...

), thrips (

Thripidae The Thripidae are the most speciose family of thrips, with over 290 genera representing just over two thousand species. They can be distinguished from other thrips by a saw-like ovipositor curving downwards, narrow wings with two veins, and ante ...

), bugs (

Miridae The Miridae are a large and diverse insect family at one time known by the Synonym (taxonomy), taxonomic synonym Capsidae. Species in the family may be referred to as capsid bugs or "mirid bugs". Common names include plant bugs, leaf bugs, and g ...

), butterflies (

Pieridae The Pieridae are a large family (biology), family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from Afrotropical realm, tropical Africa and Indomalayan realm, tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern ...

), sawflies (

Tenthredinidae Tenthredinidae is the largest family of sawflies, with well over 7,500 species worldwide, divided into 430 genera. Larvae are herbivores and typically feed on the foliage of trees and shrubs, with occasional exceptions that are leaf miners, stem ...

), bees (

Apidae Apidae is the largest family within the superfamily Apoidea, containing at least 5700 species of bees. The family includes some of the most commonly seen bees, including bumblebees and honey bees, but also includes stingless bees (also used for ...

Halictidae Halictidae is the second-largest family of bees (clade Anthophila) with nearly 4,500 species. They are commonly called sweat bees (especially the smaller species), as they are often attracted to perspiration. Halictid species are an extremely div ...

Andrenidae The Andrenidae (commonly known as mining bees) are a large, nearly cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family of solitary, ground-nesting bees. Most of the family's diversity is located in temperate or arid areas (warm temperate xeric). It i ...

), ants ( Formicidae) and flies (

Sepsidae The Sepsidae are a family (biology), family of Fly, flies, commonly called the black scavenger flies or ensign flies. Over 300 species are described worldwide. They are usually found around dung or decaying plant and animal material. Many species ...

Sciomyzidae The family (biology), family Sciomyzidae belongs to the typical flies (Brachycera) of the order (biology), order Fly, Diptera. They are commonly called marsh flies, and in some cases snail-killing flies due to the food of their larvae. Here, t ...

Ephydridae Ephydridae (shore flies, sometimes brine flies) is a family of insects in the order Fly, Diptera. Shore flies are tiny flies that can be found near seashores or at smaller inland waters, such as ponds. About 2,000 species have been described worl ...

, Syrphidae,

Anthomyiidae The Anthomyiidae are a large and diverse family (biology), family of Muscoidea fly, flies. Most look rather like small houseflies. Most species are drab grey to black. Many ''Pegomya'' are yellow, and some members of the genus, genera ''Ant ...

Tachinidae The Tachinidae are a large and variable family of true fly, flies within the insect order Fly, Diptera, with more than 8,200 known species and many more to be discovered. Over 1,300 species have been described in North America alone. Insects in t ...

and Muscidae) have been observed to visit the leaves or flowers, many of which were found carrying ''Caltha'' pollen. In addition to other forms of pollination, this plant is adapted to rain-

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...

. ''Caltha palustris'' is infertile when self-pollinated. Rather high fertility in crosses between sibling plants suggest that this phenomenon is genetically regulated by several genes. This regulation mechanism also occurs in ''

Ranunculus ''Ranunculus'' is a large genus of about 1750 species of flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae. Members of the genus are known as buttercups, spearworts and water crowfoots. The genus is distributed worldwide, primarily in temperate an ...

'' and as far as known only in these two genera.

Seed dispersal

In ''Caltha palustris'' up to two hundred seeds may be produced by each flower. When the follicles open, they form a "splash cup". When a raindrop hits one at the right angle, the walls are shaped such that the seeds are expelled. The seeds also have some spongy tissue that makes them float on water, until they wash up in a location that may be suitable for this species to grow.

Diseases

The marsh-marigold is affected by the

rust Rust is an iron oxide, a usually reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture. Rust consists of hydrous iron(III) oxides (Fe2O3·nH2O) and iron(III) oxide-hydroxide (FeO(OH) ...

species ''Puccinia calthea'' and ''P. calthicola''.Peter Zwetko:
Die Rostpilze Österreichs.
Supplement und Wirt-Parasit-Verzeichnis zur 2. Auflage des Catalogus Florae Austriae, III. Teil, Heft 1, Uredinales.'' (PDF; 1,8 MB).

Toxicity

''Caltha'' contains several active substances of which the most important from a toxicological point of view is protoanemonin. Larger quantities of the plant may cause convulsions, burning of the throat, vomiting, bloody diarrhea, dizziness and fainting. Contact of the skin or

mucous membrane A mucous membrane or mucosa is a membrane that lines various cavities in the body of an organism and covers the surface of internal organs. It consists of one or more layers of epithelial cells overlying a layer of loose connective tissue. It ...

s with the juices can cause blistering or inflammation, and gastric illness if ingested. Younger parts seem to contain less toxics and heating breaks these substances down. Small amounts of ''Caltha'' in hay do not cause problems when fed to husbandry, but larger quantities lead to gastric illness. Additionally, plants that live in raw water may carry toxic organisms which can be neutralized by cooking.

Uses

Early spring greens and buds of ''Caltha palustris'' are edible when cooked (but are poisonous when raw). Young leaves or buds should be submerged a few times in fresh boiling water until barely tender, cut into bite-sized pieces, lightly salted, and served with melted butter and vinegar. Very young flowerbuds have been prepared like capers and used as a spice. The common marsh marigold is planted as an ornamental throughout temperate regions in the world, and sometimes recommended for low maintenance wildlife gardens. The double-flowered cultivar 'Flore Pleno' has won the

Culture

''Caltha palustris'' is a plant commonly mentioned in literature, including

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

: :''Winking Marybuds begin'' :''To open their golden eyes'' (''

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' (), also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concer ...

'', ii. 3). It also appears in

Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Nicholls (; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855), commonly known as Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ), was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë family, Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novel ...

's '' Shirley'': :''They both halted on the green brow of the Common: they looked down on the deep valley robed in May raiment; on varied meads, some pearled with daisies, and some golden with king-cups: to-day all this young verdure smiled clear in sunlight; transparent emerald and amber gleams played over it '' and in

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

's poem 'Overlooking the River Stour': :''Closed were the kingcups; and the mead/Dripped in monotonous green,/Though the day's morning sheen/Had shown it golden and honeybee'd''. ''Kingcup Cottage'' by

Racey Helps Angus Clifford Racey Helps (1913–1970) was an English children's author and illustrator. His books were written in a simple style and feature woodland creatures and birds, with illustrations by the author. He is known also for illustrating ...

is a children's book which features the plant.

References

*Clapham, A. R., Tutin, T. G., and Warburg, E. F., 1962, ''Flora of the British Isles'' Cambridge University Press *Lord, Tony (ed), 2006, ''RHS Plant Finder 2006–2007'' London: RHS/Dorling Kindersley *Mabey, Richard, 1997, ''Flora Britannica'' London: Chatto and Windus *Rose, Francis, 2006, ''The Wild Flower Key'' (edition revised and expanded by Clare O'Reilly) London: Frederick Warne * *

External links

Flora of Pennsylvania
{{Taxonbar, from=Q147192 palustris Flora of Northern America Flora of Europe Flora of the United Kingdom Flora of Asia Medicinal plants of Europe Medicinal plants of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus