Buttercups

Tea Party…tea cups…tea and sandwiches…bread…and butter…are you following the drift?
B…is for buttercups!

Manisha’s invitation to the Flower Fest was too much to pass up on…so, I spent an entire morning trying to identify some of the wildflowers we spotted in the Valley of Flowers last month. The research bore fruit and I am very sure that these pictures are of beautiful White Buttercups, genus Rannuculus.

Buttercups are usually yellow but sometimes, also white. Most buttercups have five to six petals, and numerous spirally arranged stamens surrounding the green center. After pollination this green part which is a number of distinct tapering pistils, will develop into a small dry fruit, the achenes. True to the genus, the leaves are deeply tri-lobed.
Buttercups get their name from a small cup-like feature, called the nectariferous spot, at the base of the petals that keeps nectar for the pollinating insects; their treat for helping out!

Tags: Flower Fest, Buttercup, wildflowers