Easily confused with : Marsh Marigold but Marsh Marigold has less shiny leaves which clasp and almost encirle the flowering stem, unlike Lesser Celandine where the leaves are heart-shaped and on stalks. The stems of Marsh Marigold are brownish. The petals of Lesser Celandine are narrower. Although Lesser Celandine also has a variable number of petals, but they are greater in number (7-12) as opposed to only 5-8 petals for Marsh Marigold.

Un-related to : Greater Celandine [a plant with similar name]. Greater Celandine belongs to the Poppy Family, whereas Lesser Celandine to the Buttercup Family. Their only other commonality is the colour of the flower, an orange-juice yellow colour; Greater Celandine has half the number of petals than does Lesser Celandine with 8.

Not to be semantically confused with Celandine Saxifrage (Saxifraga cymbalaria) [a flower belonging to a differing family].

There are four other sub-species:

• Ficaria verna subsp. chrysocephalus (Lesser Celandine)
• Ficaria verna subsp. ficariiformis (Lesser Celandine)
• Ficaria verna subsp. fertilis (Celandine)
• Ficaria verna subsp. verna (Bulbiferous Celandine)

The second two are much more ubiquitous occurring with several exceptions mostly throughout the UK and have smaller flowers, up to 4cm across, with bulbils on the Bulbiferous Columbine (and on the ssp. ficariiformis) after flowering.

It is not know to which of the latter two species the photographs conform.

Lesser Celandine is one of the first plants to flower in spring. The year 2008 was a very good year for it. The flowers are solitary, nominally 8-petalled and shiny yellow. The yellow sometimes giving way to whiteness, especially in very sunny weather. The leaves are also shiny and dark-green, small and variously kidney-shaped.

One of its common names is Pilewort, for it was used for piles, as well as for scurvy, for it must contain a lot of vitamin-C.