May 27th: Buttercup Day

Today is Buttercup Day - 10 things you didn't know about buttercups:

1. The name “buttercup” is said to derive from an old belief that the Yellow colour of Butter comes about because the Cows eat the yellow buttercups. This is not true. In fact, buttercups are poisonous to cows and other grazing animals; they taste nasty and cause blisters in the mouth, so animals won't eat them unless there is absolutely nothing else to eat. The toxins are degraded by drying, so hay containing dried buttercups is safe for animals to eat.
2. Excessive handling and crushing of the plants will irritate human skin, too, a fact that beggars in the olden days took full advantage of. They would rub the plants on their skin, to bring out blisters so that passers by would take pity on them and be more likely to part with their cash.
3. Picking a buttercup in order to play the children's game of holding the flower under the chin to ascertain whether or not someone likes butter does no harm, though. This is also a myth. Scientists have discovered that the yellow flowers are simply highly reflective so are likely to cause the characteristic yellow glow whether the person likes butter or not.
4. Another butter-related tradition is observed to this day on May Day in parts of Ireland. They used to rub buttercups onto cows' udders to promote Milk production.
5. The buttercup belongs to the genus Ranunculus, which includes about 2,252 different species. The genus name derives from “rana”, the late Latin word for “little frog”, because many of the species grow near water, where Frogs are found. in North America they are called "Coyote’s eyes" thanks to a myth where a coyote throws its eyes up in the air, but before it can catch them again an eagle swoop down and steals them, so the coyote fashioned new eyes from buttercups.
6. In the language of flowers, a bouquet of buttercups means, “I am dazzled by your charms.”
7. The yellow colour of these flowers can represent more than butter. It is also the colour of Gold. There is a fairytale which explains how buttercups came to be: a miser was carrying a sack of gold across a field when some Fairies stopped him and asked for alms. He refused them, so the fairies cut a hole in his sack. The gold trickled out over the field. The fairies turned each of the gold pieces into flowers - hence buttercups.
8. Buttercups have a dark side. Some traditions believe yellow is an evil colour, so the plant must have an evil side. As well as their toxicity, it was once believed that holding a tall buttercup flower against one’s neck on the night of a full moon, or even just smelling the flower, caused insanity. ‘Crazyweed’ is an old folk name for the plant. Victorians believed it stood for ingratitude and childishness.
9. Pagans associate buttercups with the Sun – partly due to the colour, but also because the flowers follow the sun as it moves across the sky. They are also associated with the element of fire. Witches use them as an ingredient for prosperity spells and spells for business success. A handful of Buttercup or Marigold petals added to a cauldron and stirred aids scrying the future. Buttercups are said to be good for healing the inner child and childhood memories.
10. Other uses for this plant include pouring it on the ground to bring worms to the surface – a technique popular with fishermen in the nineteenth century, and the production of yellow dye from the flowers.