Lesser Celandine, Ficaria verna - Yellow Flowers in an Irish Woodland in Spring

Lesser Celandine Ficaria verna is a bright, colourful spring flower in the Irish countryside that often carpets woodlands, riverbanks and lower hedgerows between March and May; with its heart-shaped leaves and bright glossy yellow petals it is amongst the first flashes of colour after the long dark months of the Irish winter.

One of the Irish countryside’s stars of spring, Lesser Celandine is famous for its sun-worshipping flowers that open in sunshine but rapidly close when in shade.

There is a Flower, the Lesser Celandine,

That shrinks, like many more, from cold and rain;

And, the first moment that the sun may shine,

Bright as the sun himself, ‘tis out again!

William Wordsworth, THE SMALL CELANDINE from Poems Volume II 1815

Not only was Lesser Celandine one of Wordsworth’s favourite flowers, it was carved on his memorial and his statue in Westminster Abbey, it was a flower that meant more to him than the daffodil with which he is most commonly associated.

Native to Ireland, Lesser Celandine can’t be mistaken for any other plant with its bright, sun-loving flowers and those heart-shaped leaves, it is a member of the buttercup family.

In olden times it was used as a remedy for haemorrhoids and was known as pilewort for obvious reasons.