There are four different species of buttercups that may be found in Kentucky: bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus), creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens), tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris), and small flower buttercup (Ranunculus arbortivus). Plants typically produce five, shiny yellow petals in the early spring. In fact, many fields that have dense buttercup populations are fields heavily grazed by animals during the fall through the early spring months.īuttercups are sometimes classified as short-lived perennials, but often grow as winter annuals. As a cool season weed, this plant often flourishes in over grazed pasture fields with poor stands of desirable forages. Green, Extension Weed Scientist - One of the signs that spring has arrived is when the yellow flowers of buttercup begin to appear, but it’s during the winter months that the vegetative growth of buttercup takes place. Its deep pink blooms grow in bunches and may suddenly appear at any time.Dr. They are plainly visible on pink wood sorrel (Oxalis rubra) that grows nonchalantly in sun or shade and without any attention whatsoever although it will need some water in hotter garden spots. Patrick’s Day and many company logos are oxalis leaves. After the cardboard or newspapers and mulch have decomposed, incorporate them into the soil with a spading fork and then plant your vegetables or ornamentals in the mixture of soil and rotted mulch.īy the way, those shamrocks that you see associated with St. After 6 weeks, the soil will have been steam heated to temperatures that should have kill oxalis bulbs and any other plant propagules, including seeds, that inhabit the top several inches of soil.Īnother organic technique for killing weeds and lawn grass, too, is to layer wet cardboard or newspapers over the target vegetation and then pile on a thick layer of mulch - straw, hay, or leaves. Make sure the plastic is held in place by large rocks or cinder blocks. After thoroughly soaking the weedy area, cover it with clear plastic that contains an ultraviolet light inhibitor (to prevent degradation of the plastic). A more permanent long term solution to this and other large scale weed problems is soil solarization, but you will have to wait until the hot weather comes in June or July to begin. Spraying the base of the clumping oxalis foliage should bring the plant down within 24 hours. If oxalis is running wild over your hills, it got there initially by means of urban wildlife – squirrels or birds or who dug up the bulbs from someone’s garden or open lot and deposited them in protected niches where they could remain viable until the rains came.Ī quick organic fix to control buttercup oxalis and many other weeds is to fill a spray bottle with distilled white vinegar to which a few squirts of dish soap are added. Its proliferation is achieved solely through vegetative propagation of its scaly bulbs. Native to South Africa, buttercup oxalis was imported to the US as an ornamental bedding plant but now is considered an invasive species.īuttercup oxalis, also called Bermuda buttercup, is fascinating because, despite its ability to rapidly take over large expanses of open ground, it is sterile, incapable of producing seeds. She added that she needs to remove it by May 1, presumably to comply with fire department regulations concerning weed abatement.
Based on those unmistakable yellow flowers, she must be talking about buttercup oxalis (Oxalis pes-caprae).
“We have their yellow flowers blooming all over our hills here in La Habra Heights,” she wrote. I’ve been thinking about oxalis, of which there are 900(!) species, since receiving an email from Judy Ennis who is seeking an organic solution to her oxalis problem.
Some people toss oxalis greens into their salad, which is fine in moderation but be careful here since oxalis contains calcium oxalate which may lead to kidney problems if excessively consumed.
Indeed, oxalis or sorrel is of a sharp sour lemon flavor – which you can quickly confirm by plucking its foliage and briefly chewing on it. The word is derived from oxys, a Greek word for sharp, and sorrel, its common name, is cognate with sour. Yet the etymology of oxalis has nothing to do with an ox. I always think of an ox when reading about it or hearing its name and for an obvious reason: It’s called oxalis. There is a certain plant that has remarkable strength.
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