This annual buttercup with a mainly Mediterranean distribution is present in all regions of Italy except in Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Lombardy (not reported since a long time) and Trentino-Alto Adige, but is more frequent in Mediterranean Italy. It grows in wet meadows, near ponds and ephemeral pools, below the montane belt. The species is common in the outer belt of the temporary ponds of Sardinia, in contact with ruderal vegetation. The fresh parts are poisonous (protoanemonine). The genus name, the Latin for 'little frog', was used since ancient times only for the aquatic species of the subgenus Batrachion, also a diminutive of the Greek 'batràchos' (frog); the species name comes from the Latin 'murex', the name of the purple shell that has many thorny spikes, in reference to the short and acute prongs of the fruit. Flowering period: March to April.

Italian name(s): Murriti (Sicilia), Piè corvino (antichi), Piè di gallo (antichi), Ranuncolo muricato (Italia), Ranuncolo rubisso (Liguria, Varo pr. Nizza), Ranuncolo spinoso (Italia), Ranunculu di margi (Sicilia), Sedano salvatico (Toscana, Mugello), Sonnu grassu (Sardegna).