The globeflower also known as Ranunculaceae trollius, is part of the buttercup family. The globeflower, which is native to areas of Canada, The United States, and Europe is also known as the Ballblom in Norwegian, Engblomme in Danish, Nittykullero, or Kullero in Finnish, and Trollblume in German.
To view the official taxinomical report for the Trollius laxus see: www.itis.usda.gov. Although there are no descendents of the globeflower, it has many close relatives including but not limited to the Delphiniums.
The Globeflower is currently considered to be endangered in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey and threatened in New York and Ohio, mostly because the wet lands that they prefer to grow are being drained for other use. This plant grows on both the west coast and the east coast, and though the west coast verity is a subspecies, there is no clear distinction between the two. Seeds for the globeflower are available commercially, and should be planted in partial shade to sun, and sowed after fall harvest.
The globeflower grows best in mountainous or wet land regions, and prefers alkaline soils, and although the flower is not aquatic, it prefers swamps, mountainous meadows, wet slopes, and pond edges. These flowers can grow from five to twenty inches tall, and blooms in mid-April. The globeflower distinctly has five yellow or cream colored petals, five to seven sepals, and palmately cut, lobed leaves, which grow bigger after blooming. When looking for this buttercup, look in mid spring in wet marshy mountainous areas, and please don’t pick them since they are considered rare in many places!
The Swedish synonyms for this flower are: smörbollar, daldocka, daldockor, bullerblomster, laxblomster (Norrland)
- Picture: http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/ranuncula/troll/troleur8.jpg
- Picture: http://academic.reed.edu/biology/courses/BIO332/slideshow/pages/008
- http://www.wildflower2.org/NPIN/Native_Plants/Detail.asp?ID=892
- http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/wrcf/sglobe.htm
- http://www.itis.usda.gov
- http://linnaeus.nrm.se/flora/di/ranuncula/troll/troleur.html