Three Ranunculi?

Despite the sweet sounding name, buttercups are poisonous (this is not a problem if you buy silk buttercups ). Livestock who eat them can get pretty sick, although slugs and snails seem to have no problem destroying them. Botanica notes that buttercups are linked to home remedies for arthritis, sciatica, rheumatism, skin conditions, and the removal of warts, which is especially interesting given that you should probably use gloves when handling them for long periods. I guess if you’re going to be an attractive looking flower, you better have some good defense mechanisms.

The name ‘buttercup’ has a straightforward origin, coming from the cup shape of the flower combined with the butter-like color (and certainly has nothing to do with a buttery taste). Ranunculus is a little less self explanatory, unless your conversational Latin is better than most. Rana means ‘ frog’ in Latin, and the culus ending means ‘little’. That makes sense because the Ranunculus looks a lot like a little frog. Well, no, but buttercups were often found in bogs or other places where frogs hung out, hence the name. Pretty weak if you ask me, but the Romans got there first, so I’ll give it to them.

I didn’t find any meanings for the Ranunculus (no fan decks down here in SD), so I’ve come up with one on my own. The Ranunculus was cursed with an ugly sounding name, and it’s poisonous, except to slugs, aphids, and snails, which are all trying to kill it. Through all of those faults, it is still a popular flower, so I’ll say that the buttercup is a symbol of triumph against the odds or being the underdog. And like the Romans, I got here first, so that’s what it’s going to mean.

-Chris

Thanks to Botanica for telling me that the buttercup is a poisonous flower named after a frog. Botanica can currently be found in San Diego.
Thanks to wikipedia for various minutiae. Wikipedia can be found on the internet at www.wikipedia.org.