Ranunculus ficaria L. Ranunculaceae Lesser Celandine, Cultivar 'Brazen Hussy' Distribution: Europe. lesser celandine, pilewort and figwort: for piles. Carrying the roots, or applying a paste made from them, alleviated haemorrhoids/piles, according to Lyte. An early English name for a haemorrhoid was a ‘fig’ and ‘ficaria’ means ‘pertaining to piles’. Celandine is a corruption of the Greek word ‘chelidonion’, meaning a swallow, was said to flower when the swallows appeared and to wither away when they left, according to Lyte. However, Dioscorides attributes this phenomenon to our greater celandine, Chelidonium majus, which starts later and continues in flower until the autumn. Of course, in southern Italy the proverb is ‘One swallow does not make a spring’ as opposed to the English ‘One swallow does not make a summer’, and they appear earlier and leave even later in the land of Dioscorides. However, Ranunculus ficaria is no relation of Chelidonium majus. Plants in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, tend to be poisonous and are one of the few plants that thrive in alpine meadows when cows are present. The cows avoid them but eat almost all the other wild flowers. Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.
