In only a few year's time my neighborhood has been taken over by fig buttercup (Ranunculus ficaria). Pretty by appearance but truly evil on all counts, a single plant will spread thickly to cover a wide breadth of ground, totally crowding out native ephemeral wildflowers trying to peek through. Gardeners weeding it out should be even more wary. At the roots lie loads and loads of little marble-like bulbils that roll away and root to create even more plants. (It's truly the Tribble of weeds!) The only way to get rid of fig buttercup is to fully dig it and bag or burn all parts. Even Round Up is useless.

Fig buttercup thrives in shade and moist ground and forms broad, ground-hugging mats of small, heart-shaped green leaves that are very glossy. In early to mid-spring, equally glossy bright yellow buttercups cover the mats. This is usually the time when unknowing gardeners dig them up and plant the "pretty buttercups" about. By late spring the leaves die back to expose the bulbils that move and spread with remarkable efficacy.

Last year I dug and discarded loads of these buttercups from my yard, but they're back full force because bulbils from the neighbor's keep rolling in and gaining ground. The best I can do is educate the community and keep digging.

 
Bulbils by the hundreds pebble the undersides of fig buttercup.


Each pretty stem can have 10 bulbils or more.


Mats and mats of this weed cover my neighborhood now and crowd out any natives trying to gain ground.