PLANT OF THE MONTH: Lesser Celandine

Description

With glossy, dark-green and heart-shaped leaves with long stalks and shiny, yellow star-like flowers with eight to twelve petals, lesser Celandine is a cheerful harbinger of spring found throughout the United Kingdom. It can be found in woodlands, hedgerows riverbanks, and meadows from February to May. It is a member of the buttercup family, not to be confused with Greater Celandine, which is poppy family. Lesser celandine is not a geophyte (a plant with a bulb – e.g. snowdrop) like most other very early emerging flowers, however it does have a cluster of small tubers at the stem base which explains how it manages to regrow and flower so early in the year. 

Ecology

Lesser celandine is an important early nectar source for pollinators such as bees and hoverflies. The plant thrives in moist, shady environments and often forms dense carpets, which help stabilise soil and prevent erosion along waterways.

Medicinal Uses

Lesser celandine has a notable history of medicinal use in the UK, particularly for the treatment of haemorrhoids—hence its alternative name, pilewort. Traditional herbalists would prepare ointments and poultices from the plant's roots, which contain saponins and tannins believed to soothe inflammation and promote healing. Incidentally, the shape of these tubers explains lesser celandine’s other common name: pilewort. The tubers mentioned above were also considered to resemble that of haemorrhoids or piles. Under the ancient ‘doctrine of signatures’, God was held to have marked each species to indicate its use to humans, so this resemblance was considered a sure fire sign that celandine would cure piles.

Folklore

William Wordsworth, the famed Romantic poet, was so taken by its golden blooms that he penned several poems in its honour, even requesting the flower be carved on his tombstone. In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, celandine carpets the land when Aslan is resurrected and the eternal winter ends.  In rural superstition, some believed it could predict the weather: if the flowers closed before midday, rain was expected. Others associated it with luck and fertility, incorporating the blooms into spring celebrations or using them to decorate homes for protection and prosperity.

Sources: 

Woodland Trust Wildlife Trust Forest Garden