Perennial herb to about 50 cm tall with contorted rhizome. Basal leaves divided into 3 dissected parts. Flowers solitary, 3-8 cm wide, scarlet, blue, pink, white or multi-coloured. Perianth segments 5-6(8); spring. Fruit achenes more or less ovoid, about 2 mm long.
S Europe, Mediterranean
There are many colour variants of this species grown for floristry and bedding. Most belong to two main groups, the St Brigids, which were raised in Ireland in the 19th century, and are semi-double, double or chrysanthemum flowered, and the single-flowered De Caens which were raised near Caen, France in the mid-19th century.
Source: (1997). Ranunculaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
