Hairy buttercup is a very common weed of dairy pastures through most of the North Island, and is less common but definitely present in similar South Island locations. So intercepting it before viable seeds have formed is the best approach. The hairy buttercup is a prolific flowerer, and thus produces a lot of seed. Flowering is from November to as late as February. The sepals of the other buttercups remain up in close proximity to the flower. The flowers are up to 25mm in diameter and are distinguished from the perennial buttercups by having sepals (the small segmented cup-like structure immediately beneath the petals) that fold sharply backward, away from the flower itself. The maturing plant produces thickish, hollow flowering stems growing to about 45cm, and these support the large yellow flowers. The leaf stalks are hairy and reach about 15cm in length. The weed first appears as a small rosette with shiny three-part leaves that become duller and more heavily divided as the rosette spreads and the plant matures. It then grows through the winter and by the time spring arrives some pastures can be heavily infested with it, with early spring pasture growth consequently inhibited. Hairy buttercup emerges in the autumn when the pasture is thinning out due to slowing growth and/or grazing pressure and appears in particular in newly (autumn) sown pastures. We’ve covered those other two perennial buttercup varieties in a separate Weed File. Unlike the other two well-known buttercups (giant buttercup and creeping buttercup), hairy buttercup is an annual weed.
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