Caltha palustris

Yellow marsh marigold

Family: Ranunculaceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Yellow marsh marigold is a naturalized perennial found in northern coastal, northern coastal-redwood, and central coastal bioregions in roadside bogs, marsh edges, and near lakes and streams at elevations of 900 to 3,300 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces bright yellow flowers in small clusters of 1 to 7 blooms. Growing 10 to 70 centimeters tall with erect stems, it develops broad leaves with petioles longer than the leaf blades. Its leaves range from 2 to 20 centimeters wide, with edges that are entire, crenate, or slightly dentate. The fruit develops into 6 to 16 elongated pods, each 12 to 20 millimeters long with a straight or slightly curved beak.

Habitat: Roadside bogs, edges of marshes, swamps, lakes, streams

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 900-3300 m

Bioregions: NCo, NCoR, CCo

California counties: Sonoma, Mendocino, Marin, Contra Costa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.