Most buttercups have tuberous or fibrous roots and solitary or loosely clustered flowers with five green sepals, five glossy yellow (sometimes white) petals, and numerous male and female structures (stamens and pistils).

The turban, or Persian buttercup (R. asiaticus), is the florist's ranunculus; usually the double-flowered form R. asiaticus Superbissimus is grown for the winter trade. Among the many wild species are the tall meadow buttercup (R. acris), native to Eurasia but widely introduced elsewhere; the swamp buttercup (R. septentrionalis) of eastern North American wetlands; and the Eurasian creeping buttercup, or butter daisy (R. repens), widely naturalized in America. Both the pond crowfoot (R. peltatus) and common water crowfoot (R. aquatilis) have broad-leaved floating leaves and finely dissected submerged leaves.