The buttercups are a large genus of essentially damp and /or shade loving perennials. From the moisture loving forms of lesser celandine, R. ficaria (now Ficaria verna) to the taller herbaceous perennials. The double white fair maids of France R. aconitifolius 'Flore Pleno' is the jewel of the shade loving buttercups.
The new generic split between Ranunculus and Ficaria is very clear, ecologically as well as morphologically. Ficaria forms are early flowering, at the very onset of spring and serve to feed the important insects emerging at that time, those insects that are going to go on to breed and populate the summer gardens. Bumblebees, hoverflies and honeybees are especially attracted to lesser celandines. Ranunculus species in contrast tend to be plants of later spring and the summer, often in full light. But they too, at least apart from the doubled forms, are vital nectar and pollen resources for a huge range of insects, from bees to sawflies, and often aggregations of pollen-beetles or tiny micromoths. The lustrous petals of many buttercups have a reflective coating that helps increase their apparency to any passing pollinator.