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Caltha palustris - Marsh marigold

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Native Wetland Plants

Caltha palustris

Marsh marigold

More About Marsh marigold

  • Early spring yellow buttercup like flowers
  • Clump forming along slow moving stream edge

Caltha palustris, Marsh marigold, is one of the earliest blooming spring ephemerals in a wetland. Marsh marigold's heart shaped shiny foliage emerges in March and almost overnight is topped with bright yellow buttercup like flowers which last thru May.  Flowers are 1 to 1-1/2 " across.  Marsh marigold will hold its foliage thru mid summer if provided a cool shady niche in a water garden otherwise it will naturally go dormant in summer by the end of June. Found naturally along slow moving streams and wooded wetlands.  Caltha palustris is important ecologically, providing protection for many small aquatic creatures and assisting in water clarifying by absorbing nutrients and trapping silt.  Despite its common name, the Marsh marigold is in the Buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) and not related to marigolds.

Bloom Color

Yellow

Caltha palustris Characteristics & Attributes

Exposure
Partial Shade
Shade
Mature Height
< 1'
Spread Characteristics
Clumping
Season of Interest (Flowering)
Spring
Season of Interest (Foliage)
Spring
Pond Zonation
Low Marsh 0 - 6"
Foliage Color
Green
Wildlife Benefits
Amphibians
Bees/Pollinators
Wetland Indicator Status
OBL
Plant Type
Bog/Marsh
Flowering Perennial
Marginal
Attributes
Bog
Great Foliage
Mass Planting
Native
Naturalizing
Ornamental Flower
Rain Garden
Specimen
USDA Hardiness Zone
3
4
5
6