Crowfoot or buttercup? This flower is both.
In my Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide it’s called Small-flowered Crowfoot. An alternate name is Kidney-leaved Buttercup. Its Latin name is Ranunculus abortivus.
This small flower is not spectacular but I’m always happy to see it because it has a crow in its name.
And.. speaking of crows, here’s a new report showing how smart they are: Clever crows can use three tools!
(photo by Dianne Machesney, who calls it Kidney-leaved Buttercup)
Also speaking of crows, they keep family bonds intact for a long time. There is extra info about this under Life History here: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Crow/id
When living in out in the ‘burbs, I saw a crow catch and eat half a garter snake. It then dug a hole and buried the other half of the snake! I had never heard of or seen crows do this before. The majority of the birds where I lived were crows and I never observed any others doing this. A learned behavior on the part of one crow or part of the species behavior?
Thanks for the photo…now I don’t have to look up what’s growing in my garden…golden alexanders, golden ragwort and the wild phlox(purple) are blooming…the columbine (native variety are blooming) but next week the gardens will be full of columbine of all colors…can’t see the ground now in the shade gardens…need to make sure the fire pinks aren’t blooming yet…everything else is 2-4 weeks ahead now…It’s beautiful out!!!( but chilly).