What is "ranunculus sceleratus"

Water celery \Wa"ter cel"er*y\ (Bot.) A very acrid herb ( Ranunculus sceleratus) growing in ditches and wet places; -- called also cursed crowfoot.

Ranunculus sceleratus known by the common names celery-leaved buttercup and cursed buttercup is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. It has a circumpolar distribution in the northern hemisphere, native to temperate and boreal North America and Eurasia, where it grows in wet and moist habitats, including ponds and streambanks.