Skip to main content

Story: Weeds of agriculture

Giant buttercups

Giant buttercups

The buttercup that grows in many gardens is small compared with the giant buttercup (Ranunculus acris), which can reach waist height. Nationally it is estimated to cost $156 million in lost dairy production. It has developed a resistance to spray control, so AgResearch is investigating using a mycoherbicide (living plant pathogen) made from a fungus.

Using this item

AgResearch

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page

Ian Popay, Weeds of agriculture – Costs of weeds, and the future, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/16494/giant-buttercups (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Ian Popay, published 1 March 2009.

Comments


10 August 2010
Thanks very much for your feedback Graeme. We have updated the caption to say that it is AgResearch that is doing the research.
Graeme Bourdot
10 August 2010
Errors in the Giant buttercup article: 1. There is ony one giant buttercup (R. acris), not several as implied by the heading "Giant buttercups" 2. Landcare Research is not doing any research on giant buttercup. AgResearch is doing the mycoherbicide research on this species.