Lesser Celandine
Identification:
Lesser celandine is low growing and mat-forming. Leaves are dark-green, shiny, and kidney to heart-shaped on short stalks. Leaves emerge from a basal rosette in early spring before the canopy leafs out. Flowers are bright butter-yellow, glossy, and usually have eight petals (sometimes up to 12) arranged around a central disk. Numerous 1″ flowers are borne singly on stalks. Flowers open in early spring, March to April. Above-ground whitish bulblets are produced on the stem axils, usually forming after flowering. Below-ground rhizomes are thick, finger-like tubers.
Control:
Hand-dig individual plants, being careful to remove all bulblets and tubers. Hand-digging is difficult in larger populations due to the high degree of soil disturbance and abundance of small tubers. For these populations, repeated, early season mowing may reduce or stay growth of lesser celandine, but risks dispersing aerial bulbils.
