The New Zealand Plant Conservation Network

Species

Caltha palustris

Etymology

Caltha: From the Greek kalathos 'goblet', refers to the form of the flower
palustris: From the Latin palus 'swamp', meaning growing in swamps

Common Name(s)

marsh marigold, king cup

Authority

Caltha plaustris L.

Family

Ranunculaceae

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

Structural Class

Dicotyledonous Herbs other than Composites

Distribution

Naturalised exotic. Currently known from scattered sites in the Waikato, Wellington and Canterbury regions

Habitat

An uncommon weed of lowland ponds, slow flowing streams and muddy ground. Commonly cultivated, whereby it sometimes spreads from gardens into nearby waterways

Features

Stout, perennial herb. Stems leafy, permanently erect, or sprawling with age and producing roots and shoots at nodes. Basal leaves: lamina 5-125 × 10-190 mm, yellow-green to green (often flushed with red), rounded to ovate, reniform, or cordate, margins entire or crenate to dentate. Inflorescences 1-7-flowered. Flowers 10-45 mm diameter; sepals yellow or orange, 6-25 mm. Follicles 5-25, spreading, sessile, ellipsoid; bodies 8.0-15.0 × 3.0-4.5 mm; style and stigma straight or curved, 0.5-2.0 mm. Seeds elliptic, 1.5-2.5 mm.

Similar Taxa

None that are naturalised in New Zealand

Flowering

Throughout the year

Flower Colours

Yellow

Fruiting

Throughout the year

Propagation Technique

Easily grown from rooted pieces and daughter offsets, In New Zealand plants spread mostly by vegetative means although viable seed is produced and some seedlings have been seen in the wild.

Endemic Taxon

No

Endemic Genus

No

Endemic Family

No

Year Naturalised

1999

Origin

Europe

This page last updated on 26 Jul 2014