Puzzle flower

[vaneramos]

Can anyone identify this flower? I have a good eye and memory for plants, and seldom come across something unfamiliar, but this is. Ironically, we saw them first at the Royal Botanical Gardens on Monday: two exuberant little blossoms in the woods. I tiptoed over with my camera, only to discover the memory card had decided to stay home. Next morning I went into the backyard. Right below our deck, there they were again: two little yellow flowers playing a joke on me. It is nickel-sized and comes with little basal kidney-shaped leaves; reminds me of a buttercup but with twice as many petals. That part of the backyard used to be a small perennial garden, so this is likely non-native.

Comments

maybe

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/invasivetutorial/Lesser_Celandine.htm

Re: maybe

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I saw that in the Peterson Guide, too. That's probably it, although this specimen has more petals than usual.

Re: maybe

[rsc.livejournal.com]

The implication of the title of the page Bill pointed to is that it bears watching. :-)

I wouldn't be surprised to find a flower that's "supposed" to have 8 petals showing up with 10.

[bixie.livejournal.com]

Yes, sadly, this is a perky little invasive. Can't remember the name, but it's all through our town park, too.