Ceratocephala testiculata

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Bur Buttercup
Bur Buttercup plant
Conservation status
Secure
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Ranunculales Family: Ranunculaceae Genus: Ceratocephala Species: C. testiculata
Binomial name
Ceratocephala testiculata Crantz (Bess.)

Bur Buttercup (Ceratocephala testiculata) is a small weed of the nothern and western United States. In the sagebrush country, it is one of the first plants to flower after the snow melts. It is very small, usually only about an inch or two tall, but potentially getting up to four inches. The flowers are small and dull yellow. The leaves are hairy and somewhat dissected.

This weed is native to Eurasia, and is rather problematic in the United States. It produces a cluster of hard, spiny fruits (the 'burs') which are annoying, as anyone knows who has had to sit upon them or crawl under a barbed-wire fence where they are present. Like other members of the buttercup family, they are poisonous. Where they are present in large numbers, it is usually an indication of excessive disturbance to the land.