It’s Unbeleafable! Ranunculus Californicus

A Love Letter to Common Buttercup,
The Early Spring Greenhouse

On a cloudy spring morning, warmth is hard to come by. Longer days awaken our solitary bees from their winter sleep, but cold mornings make it hard to move. And yet, rays of warmth can still be found between the grasslands, on the corners of oak dappled shade where the California buttercup hides. 

The flower, a bright yellow cup of gold, sits on a crown of five green reflexed sepals. From a bed of deeply lobed basal leaves, the cups shoot upward, gleaming above their fellow grasses or herbs. This smiling yellow is an early spring beacon—that calls the insects towards it. However, it is more than just the color that attracts the bees. On the surface of the petal, if you catch it just right, it will sheen a flash of light. The cup, like solar panels, reflects warmth inwards. The petals, filled with reflective pigment, radiate the sunlight towards its center. The flower can be upwards of a few degrees warmer—imperative for not just insects but for pollen grains to loosen onto bees’ knees. 

I know spring is coming when the buttercups, dormant for the summer, pop up in February. 

Sophie McLean, Native Plant Specialist