Ranunculus ficaria - Lesser celandine is a low-growing, hairless perennial plant, with fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves. The plant is found throughout Europe and west Asia and is now introduced in North America. It prefers bare, damp ground and in the UK it is often a persistent garden weed. The flowers are yellow, turning white as they age. In many parts of the northern United States and Canada, lesser celandine is cited as an invasive species. The plant used to be known as Lesser Celandine, as it was used to treat hemorrhoids. Plants have a basal rosette of dark green, shiny, stalked leaves that are kidney- to heart-shaped. The flowers open in March and April, have eight glossy, butter-yellow petals, and are borne singly on delicate stalks that rise above the leaves. Pale-colored bulblets are produced along the stems of the aboveground portions of the plant, but are not apparent until late in the flowering period. When in bloom, large infestations of lesser celandine appear as a green carpet with yellow dots, spreading across the forest floor.