Greater Celandine
Chelidonium majus
Found in moist slopes, shaded roadsides, rocky forests. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Not native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 76%
- Height
- 1–2 feet
- Spread
- 8–12 inches
- Light
- Dappled sunlight, Deep shade, Partial shade
- Soil moisture
- Usually moist
Do not plant. Listed invasive in West Virginia.
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At a glance
- Life cycle
- Biennial or perennial
- Bloom
- March to July
Not yet recorded · Leaves
Recorded in 9 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.
Who uses this plant?
—CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
—BeesSoutheastern regional records
—Specialist beesPollen specialists
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimPlant details
- Family
- Papaveraceae
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- Flower color
- Yellow
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
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” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Hardiness · “Zones 4a–8b” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Height · “1–2 feet” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Life cycle · “Biennial or perennial” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox (ranked first; Minnesota Wildflowers differs)
- Light · “Dappled sunlight (shade through upper canopy all day); Deep shade (less than 2 hours to no direct sunlight); Partial shade (direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- primary_flower_color · “yellow” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Soil · “Moist” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
- Spread · “8–12 inches” · NC Extension Plant Toolbox
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | SNA |
|---|---|
| Global rank | GNR |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Sources
- West Virginia DNR invasive plant list
- USDA PLANTS
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025)
- NatureServe Explorer
- West Virginia 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