I enjoy seeing these cheery yellow flowers swaying in the breeze, invoking happy memories of warm, lazy afternoons in the meadows with friends, holding a flower under each-others chins to see how strongly the colour reflected to indicate how much you loved to eat butter, as their petals are the same shade as fresh churned natural butter, not the paler version we are now accustomed to from the supermarkets.
Buttercup, also called crowfoot and Coyote’s eyes in the U.S., is one of about 250 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Ranunculaceae, being common throughout the world, they are common in woods and fields of the northern hemisphere. The petal's upper surface has mirror-like reflection, this helps in attracting pollinating insects, as well as maintaining temperature regulation of the flower's reproductive parts. They have tuberous roots, which tenaciously spread above ground and under, making them difficult to completely weed out from a garden!
Buttercups are poisonous when eaten fresh, fortunately their bitter taste and the blistering caused by their poison means they are not usually eaten. Poisoning in livestock can occur where buttercups are abundant in overgrazed fields where little other edible plant growth is left, and the animals eat them out of desperation. However, the toxins are destroyed by drying, so hay with them in is safe.
When the plants are handled, they can cause contact dermatitis in humans!
Magically the flowers can be dried, to be used in potpourri, incense blends or spells for any of the following intentions:
Growth, advancement, abundance, enlightenment, ideas, divination, exorcism, healing, hope, prosperity, protection, divination, energy, innocence, youthfulness, happiness.
Planet: Sun
Element: Fire
Gender: masculine
Deity: Sulis, Minerva, Blodeuwed, Belenos, Aine, Macha, Athena, Helios, Ra, Bast, Horus.
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Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash