Wildflower (forb) · Ranunculaceae
Cursed buttercup
Ranunculus sceleratus · includes its varieties and subspecies
Cursed buttercup is recorded as native to 46 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 816 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Key facts · USDA PLANTS
Cursed buttercup at a glance
- Native in
- 816 counties, across 46 states and territories
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b PLANTS minimum temperature 52°F
- Mature height
- 2 ft PLANTS mature height
- Light and water
- Tolerates shade High water use
Estimated cold hardiness: zone 12b. PLANTS gives a minimum temperature of 52°F; zone 12b winters bottom out at 55°F, the coldest half-zone that stays within that limit.
Cursed buttercup is recorded as native to 46 states and territories in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in 816 counties of those states by USDA PLANTS.
Counties where it is native
The 15 counties with the most ZIP codes among the 816 where it is listed.
Native counties by state
- Alabama 3 counties
- Alaska 8 counties
- Arizona 3 counties
- Arkansas 14 counties
- California 13 counties
- Colorado 27 counties
- Connecticut statewide record
- Delaware 2 counties
- District of Columbia 1 county
- Florida 4 counties
- Georgia 1 county
- Idaho 18 counties
- Illinois 48 counties
- Indiana 23 counties
- Iowa 9 counties
- Kansas 45 counties
- Kentucky 14 counties
- Louisiana 53 counties
- Maine 2 counties
- Massachusetts 10 counties
- Michigan 48 counties
- Minnesota 57 counties
- Mississippi 3 counties
- Missouri 25 counties
- Montana 10 counties
- Nebraska 35 counties
- Nevada 8 counties
- New Hampshire 1 county
- New Jersey 17 counties
- New Mexico 7 counties
- New York 38 counties
- North Carolina 15 counties
- North Dakota 39 counties
- Oklahoma 14 counties
- Oregon 21 counties
- Pennsylvania 15 counties
- Rhode Island 2 counties
- South Carolina 2 counties
- South Dakota 16 counties
- Tennessee 8 counties
- Texas 17 counties
- Utah 29 counties
- Virginia 42 counties
- Washington 26 counties
- Wisconsin 9 counties
- Wyoming 14 counties
Growing traits
Values from the PLANTS characteristics record. “Not recorded” means PLANTS has no value; nothing here is estimated except the zone.
Growth
- Growth habit
- Forb/herb
- Duration
- Annual, Perennial
- Mature height
- 2 ft
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Growth form
- Single Crown
- Shape
- Erect
- Lifespan
- Short
- Active growth period
- Spring and Summer
Light and water
- Shade tolerance
- Tolerant (tolerates shade)
- Moisture use
- High water use
- Drought tolerance
- None
- Tolerance of waterlogged soil
- High
- Precipitation range
- 8 to 55 in per year
Soil
- Soil textures
- Coarse, medium and fine
- pH range
- 4.8 to 8.4
- Lime (CaCO₃) tolerance
- Medium
- Salinity tolerance
- Low
- Fertility requirement
- Medium
- Minimum root depth
- 6 in
Climate
- Minimum temperature
- 52°F
- Estimated cold hardiness
- Zone 12b and warmer
- Minimum frost-free days
- 90
- Fire tolerance
- Low
Flowers, leaves and fruit
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Showy flowers
- Yes
- Bloom period
- Late Spring
- Foliage color
- Green
- Showy in fall
- No
- Keeps leaves
- No
- Fruit color
- Brown
Other
- Toxicity
- None
- Nitrogen fixation
- None
- Nursery availability
- No Known Source
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
- PLANTS symbol
- RASC3
Source & data date
- Source
- USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: county distribution records, native status and plant characteristics. CC0 (public domain dedication, per the data.gov catalog record).
- Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP): native or introduced status by state. CC BY 3.0.
- USGS US-RIIS (ver. 2.0): species listed as introduced are excluded. CC0.
- Citation
- USDA, NRCS. 2026. The PLANTS Database (https://plants.usda.gov, 11/04/2026). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC USA.
- Govaerts R. (ed.) (2026). WCVP: World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Data file dated 2026-06-04, http://sftp.kew.org/pub/data-repositories/WCVP/ (retrieved 2026-11-04). Paper: Govaerts R. et al. (2021) The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Scientific Data 8, 215.
- Data date
- Retrieved from PLANTS on November 4, 2026; WCVP data file dated June 4, 2026.
- Scope
- Ranunculus sceleratus (PLANTS symbol RASC3), including 2 varieties and subspecies folded into the species.
- Method
- A species is listed when it is recorded as native to the state in Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants and USDA PLANTS, and recorded in the county by USDA PLANTS. Species PLANTS labels both native and introduced are listed separately. Full method · All sources