Traditional Herbal Medicine Registration (THMR).

Carrying the roots, or applying a paste made from them, alleviated haemorrhoids/piles.

Other common names: crain, crow's foot, figwort, Kenningworth, marsh pilewort, pilewort and small celandine.

Known as Pilewort, and carrying the roots, or applying a paste made from them, alleviated haemorrhoids/piles, according to Culpeper. A medieval name for a haemorrhoid was ‘Fig’, and it is possible that the suffic ‘-aria’ signifies ‘belonging to’ as in ‘sectarian’, ‘vegetarian’, ‘parliamentarian’, and that ‘ficaria’ means ‘pertaining to piles’.

Synonym of Ranunculus ficaria

Ranunculus ficaria L. Ranunculaceae Lesser Celandine, Cultivar 'Brazen Hussy' Distribution: Europe. lesser celandine, pilewort and figwort: for piles. Carrying the roots, or applying a paste made from them, alleviated haemorrhoids/piles, according to Lyte. An early English name for a haemorrhoid was a ‘fig’ and ‘ficaria’ means ‘pertaining to piles’. Celandine is a corruption of the Greek word ‘chelidonion’, meaning a swallow, was said to flower when the swallows appeared and to wither away when they left, according to Lyte. However, Dioscorides attributes this phenomenon to our greater celandine, Chelidonium majus, which starts later and continues in flower until the autumn. Of course, in southern Italy the proverb is ‘One swallow does not make a spring’ as opposed to the English ‘One swallow does not make a summer’, and they appear earlier and leave even later in the land of Dioscorides. However, Ranunculus ficaria is no relation of Chelidonium majus. Plants in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, tend to be poisonous and are one of the few plants that thrive in alpine meadows when cows are present. The cows avoid them but eat almost all the other wild flowers.

Plants in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae, tend to be poisonous and are among the few plants that thrive in alpine meadows when cows are present. The cows avoid them but eat almost all the other wild flowers.