This unusual plant has separate male and female plants which have different flowers. Males have 10 to 15 narrow, unequal, pointed, yellowish brown to reddish petals. Females have smaller petals and they are more spoon-shaped. Both produce nectar and are probably cross-fertilised by small flies. Leaves are divided into three lobes , the middle section largest, they are covered with long soft, silvery-white or golden hairs.

The Silvery buttercup is widely scattered across the Falkland Islands. It is found on coastal slopes, on open soil, acid grasslands, dwarf shrub heath, inland rock, scrub and even feldmark. It has been found at higher altitudes up to 615m.

This plant is endemic to the Falkland Islands.

Sources include:, Falklands Conservation, A Field Guide to the Wildlife of The Falkland Islands and South Georgia - Ian J Strange,Flowering Plants of the Falkland Islands- Robin W Woods, The Vascular Flora of the Falkland Islands- D. M. Moore, B.Sc., Ph.D, 1968, iucnredlist.org, Field Guide to the Plants of the Falkland Islands- Thomas Heller, Rebecca Upston, Richard Lewis, edited by Colin Clubbe

Photographic credits: Ali Marsh

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