A pretty yellow flower that isn’t a native plant and doesn’t belong in North Carolina is harming Triangle backyards, the News & Observer reported.
Fig buttercup, or ficaria verna, is a bright yellow flower with glossy petals about the size of a nickel, surrounded by heart-shaped leaves the color of fresh spinach.
The spring perennial, also known as lesser celandine, joined the ranks of other non-native plants that crowd out native species and ultimately harm the ecosystem, reducing biodiversity in the region.
English ivy, Bradford pear, Chinese privet, Japanese stilt grass and heavenly bamboo are other invasive plant species in the Triangle. Kudzu, native to East Asia, smothers trees like a net alongside roads across the South.
Leaders of the North Carolina Invasive Plant Council and the N.C. Botanical Garden say the spread of fig buttercup has grown at least 10 times larger in the last two years, and they are trying to stop it before they’re too late.