What is Buttercup?
{{Taxobox | name = Buttercup | image = Creeping butercup close 800.jpg | image_width = 250px | image_caption = [[Creeping buttercup]] (''Ranunculus repens'') | regnum = [[Plant]]ae | divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]] | classis = [[Magnoliopsida]] | ordo = [[Ranunculales]] | familia = [[Ranunculaceae]] | genus = '''''Ranunculus''''' | genus_authority = [[Carolus Linnaeus|L.]]}} '''Buttercups''' are a large [[genus]] of [[flowering plants]] called '''''Ranunculus'''''. It has [[yellow]], shiny [[petal]]s, and grows wild in many places. It is poisonous to eat for humans and [[cattle]], but when dry the poison is not active. ==Types of buttercup== There are about 200 to 600 species in this one genus. They mostly have yellow or sometimes white flowers. Buttercups include a wide variety of flower types, grouped by a plant naming system in the genus ''Ranunculus''. Among them are the Meadow Buttercup (''Ranunculus acris''), Goldilocks Buttercup (''R. auricomus''), Creeping Buttercup (''R. repens''), Large White Buttercup (''R. platanifolius''), Celery-leaved Buttercup (''R. sceleratus''), Corn Buttercup (''R. arvensis''), Bulbous Buttercup (''R. bulbosus'') and Glacial Buttercup (''R. glacialis''). Lesser Celandine (''R. ficaria''), Lesser Spearwort (''R. flammula''), and Greater Spearwort (''R. lingua'') also belong to the buttercup family. Plants of the commonly named buttercup family grow in many different variations but most can be identified by their yellow cupped flowers and free-growing habit. The plants often climb or sprawl, with [[Leaf|leaves]] arranged in spirals. Some may contain leaves without stipules and flowers with many stamens. [[sequence analysis|Molecular investigation]] of the genus shows that ''Ranunculus'' is not [[Monophyly|monophyletic]].<ref>Emadzade K. ''et al'' 2010. A molecular phylogeny, morphology and classification of genera of Ranunculeae (Ranunculaceae). ''Taxon'' '''59''': 809–828.</ref> Proposals are under way to split up the genus. [[File:Ranunculus glaberrimus labell