Content
- Buttercup: plant family and essentials
- A poisonous buttercup plant
- Two toxins and their effects on the body
- There you will find the buttercup!
- Essentials to recognize them
- Tips
The poisonous buttercup belongs to buttercup plants
Buttercup: plant family and essentials
The buttercup, also commonly known as weed, lard, spicy buttercup, Gilberich and houndstooth is even a household name to children. Who does not know them, this flower that populates so many meadows in late spring?
A poisonous buttercup plant
The buttercup is the most commonly encountered member of the plant family of buttercup plants also known as Ranunculaceae. Like all other plants within this family, the buttercup is filled with toxins.
Two toxins and their effects on the body
In addition to the active substance called Ranunculin, which is found in all buttercup plants, it is the substance called protoanemonin, which makes the buttercups so poisonous. In particular, the roots are brimming with this ingredient, which turns into the toxic anemonic acid on drying.
Anyone who eats fresh buttercups (one would hardly think of eating more because of the unpleasantly hot taste), even with small amounts, can expect symptoms that indicate a poisoning. These include:
There you will find the buttercup!
This plant of the family Hahnenfußgewächse is found on wet meadows, at forest edges, in bushes, on roadsides and everywhere, where the soil is nitrogen rich and calcareous. It is native to Europe, Asia and even North America. Its main distribution area is the central European area. It can thrive up to heights of 2,300 m.
Essentials to recognize them
These characteristics make it easy to recognize the buttercup:
Tips
The dandelion is also called buttercup. Buttercup is for him, especially in southern Germany, a popular popular name. But in contrast to the sharp cock foot he is not poisonous.