This annual buttercup with a Mediterranean-eastern European distribution is present in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Tuscany, Abruzzo, Campania, Calabria, Puglia and Sardinia, but with a rather sparse and erratic distribution. It grows in wet meadows and in temporary pools, from sea level to about 800 m. This characteristic species of Mediterranean temporary ponds is rare in Sardinia. The plant is toxic due to the content of anemonine. The genus name, the Latin for 'little frog', was used since ancient times only for the aquatic species of the subgenus Batrachion, also a diminutive of the Greek 'batràchos' (frog); the species name refers to the Greek island of Chios. Flowering period: March to May. |