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Alpine Buttercup

Trollius farreri (TROLL-ee-us FAH-re-ry)

Family: Ranunculaceae Non-native Herbaceous

Trollius farreri or Alpine Buttercup is a small perennial plant with bright yellow flowers that likes to grow in moist soils. In its natural habitat, it can be found growing along grassy slopes or alpine meadows. It works well in rock and crevice gardens.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 36 attributes.

How it fits the guild

Guild layer 4 - Herbaceous
See companions & conflicts ↓

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Perennial
Life cycle
Perennial
Light
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) | Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours)
Soil texture
Shallow Rocky
Soil drainage
Good Drainage | Moist
Available space
Less than 12 inches
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Clumping
Leaf color
Green
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Rosulate
Leaf shape
Cuneate; Obovate; Rhomboidal
Leaf margin
Dentate
Hairs present
No
Leaf detail
All the leaves (3 to 4) are either basal or subbasal rhombic-obovate or cuneate, with irregular teeth, or 1 to 2 leaves near the middle of the stem. When dried, the leaves are not geeen.
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower size
1-3 inches
Flower detail
Solitary, early summer, bright yellow flowers up to 1 1/4" with 5 or 6 sepals. Its petals are shorter than the sepals.
Bloom time
Spring; Summer
Stem color
Green
Stem detail
Very short 2" stems. When fruiting the stems can be up to 7" tall.
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Non-native
Origin
China
Play value
Attractive Flowers
Landscape Use
Landscape location
Container; Meadow; Patio; Pond; Slope/Bank; Small Space; Walkways; Woodland
Landscape theme
Rock Garden
Design feature
Border; Mass Planting; Small groups
Garden tags
#moist soil #perennial

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.