Lesser Celandine | A Chicago Dirty Dozen Is Making an Appearance

Have you noticed patches of heart shaped plants around town? Maybe you have even spotted a pretty little yellow flower?

Don’t be fooled!

This plant is on America’s LEAST WANTED LIST.  It seems lovely, but the plant will take over – fast. It is highly invasive and needs to be removed immediately.

As Robert Sullivan, a Horticulturist at the Center on Halsted, says:

Lesser celandine is an attractive but highly invasive plant that is seriously damaging to native ecosystems in northern Illinois. It is an exotic spring ephemeral and a vigorous growing groundcover that forms large, dense patches on the forest floor, displacing and preventing native plants from co-occurring. The ecological impact of lesser celandine is primarily on the native spring- flowering plant community and the various wildlife species associated with them.

Remove it ASAP

Lesser celandine is or will be blooming shortly in the area. If this plant is on your property, you should take steps to remove it.  Eradication is difficult but important – the problem only gets worse, and quickly.

Good Native Plants

Do not confuse the “bad” lesser celandine with these “good” native plants: