Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Ranunculus muricatus L.

Family

Ranunculaceae

Common Names

burr buttercup, buttercup, prickle fruited buttercup, prickle-fruit buttercup, pricklefruit buttercup, roughseed buttercup, Sicily buttercup, sharp buttercup, sharp-fruited buttercup, spinyfruit buttercup, spiny-fruited buttercup, spring buttercup

Origin

Native to southern Europe (i.e. France, Portugal, Spain, Albania, eastern Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, eastern Romania, Yugoslavia and southern Ukraine), the Azores, the Madeira Islands, the Canary Islands, northern Africa (i.e. northern Algeria, northern Egypt, northern Libya, Morocco and Tunisia) and western Asia and the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. northern India and Pakistan).

Naturalised Distribution

Widely naturalised in the temperate regions of southern Australia (i.e. in New South Wales, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, many parts of South Australia and the coastal districts of south-western Western Australia). Also naturalised on Norfolk Island and occasionally naturalised in south-eastern Queensland.

Naturalised overseas in southern and western USA (i.e. California, Oregon, Washington, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina), New Zealand and on some Pacific islands (i.e. Hawaii).

Notes

Sharp buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus) is regarded as an environmental weed in Victoria and Western Australia. It is a common weed of gardens, lawns, pastures and disturbed sites throughout southern Australia, but also invades wetter natural habitats in many areas.

For example, sharp buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus) grows in wetlands, swamps, winter-wet depressions, and waterways from Perth to Albany in south-western Western Australia. It is also listed as an environmental weed in some parts of Victoria (e.g. in the Goulburn Broken Catchment and in Knox City).

Sharp buttercup (Ranunculus muricatus) has also been recorded growing in numerous conservation areas in Victoria (i.e. Morwell National Park, Brisbane Ranges National Park and Pomborneit North Nature Conservation Reserve) and South Australia (i.e. Cleland Conservation Park, Cromer Conservation Park, Mount Magnificent Conservation Park, Onkaparinga River National Park, Totness Recreation Park and Scott Creek Conservation Park).