Yellow Water-buttercup
Ranunculus flabellaris
In the Carolinas and Georgia, found in pools in floodplains of small stream swamps, ponds, borrow pits, other stagnant or slowly moving waters. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to Louisiana. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Light
- Partial shade, Full shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Moist to standing water

Rare or protected plant. Specialist conservation planting; excluded from routine garden suggestions. Plant caution source
Hidden from default planting suggestions. Wildlife value and native status remain unchanged.
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
- Bloom
- March to July
Not yet recorded · Height · Spread · Leaves
Height: NC species account not read yet.
Spread and leaves: no source found yet.
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 2 Louisiana parishes.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Still water and its edges: ponds, lakes, millponds and reservoirs.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in Louisiana. Shared habitat, not food. 100 animals.
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Eastern PhoebeSayornis phoebe
- Eastern Screech-owlMegascops asio
- Eastern Wood-peweeContopus virens
- Eurasian Collared-doveStreptopelia decaocto
- Fish CrowCorvus ossifragus
- Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Great-tailed GrackleQuiscalus mexicanus
- Greater White-fronted GooseAnser albifrons
- Greater YellowlegsTringa melanoleuca
- Hooded WarblerWilsonia citrina
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Lesser ScaupAythya affinis
- Lesser YellowlegsTringa flavipes
- Long-billed DowitcherLimnodromus scolopaceus
- MerlinFalco columbarius
- Mottled DuckAnas fulvigula
- Northern ParulaParula americana
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Pileated WoodpeckerDryocopus pileatus
- Ruby-throated HummingbirdArchilochus colubris
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Summer TanagerPiranga rubra
Widespread birds also seen here (34)
Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.
- American Goldfinch
- American Kestrel
- American Robin
- Bald Eagle
- Black-crowned Night-heron
- Blue Grosbeak
- Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
- Canada Goose
- Cedar Waxwing
- Chimney Swift
- Common Nighthawk
- Common Yellowthroat
- Cooper's Hawk
- Double-crested Cormorant
- Eastern Kingbird
- European Starling
- Great Egret
- Great Horned Owl
- Mourning Dove
- Northern Cardinal
- Northern Flicker
- Northern Mockingbird
- Osprey
- Pine Siskin
- Purple Finch
- Red-tailed Hawk
- Red-winged Blackbird
- Sharp-shinned Hawk
- Tree Swallow
- Turkey Vulture
- White-throated Sparrow
- Yellow-breasted Chat
- Yellow-crowned Night-heron
- Yellow-rumped Warbler
Who uses this plant?
3CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including LA
Genus host records with ranges including LA · Ranunculus
- Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
- Papaipema nebrisStalk Borer
- Sparganothis sulfureanaSparganothis Fruitworm Moth, Sulfur Leafroller, False Yellow-Head
20BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Ranunculus
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
6BirdsRecorded eating Ranunculus in Louisiana
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes Louisiana, most records first.
- Wild Turkey10 diet records
- American WigeonSeeds and leaves. 4 diet records
- American Coot1 diet record
- American Pipit1 diet record
- Fulvous Whistling-duckSeeds. 1 diet record
- Lapland Longspur1 diet record
Direct food only. Caterpillars on host plants also feed nesting birds. NC Native Plant Society: butterfly gardening
No records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Birds that eat Ranunculus 6
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab), CC0 1.0.
- Wild TurkeyMeleagris gallopavo
- American WigeonAnas americana
- American CootFulica americana
- American PipitAnthus rubescens
- Fulvous Whistling-duckDendrocygna bicolor
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
Plant details
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- Flower color
- Yellow
Growing sources and scope
- Bloom · “March to July” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- Flower color · “Yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Minnesota Wildflowers
- Light · “Partial shade; Full shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Moist; Water; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Yellow Water Buttercup; Yellow Water Crowfoot
Conservation status
| Louisiana rank | S1 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G5 |
| LA status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- NatureServe Explorer
- Louisiana occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications






























