Investigating the abundance/height of butter cups in a managed and unmanaged area

Aim
To investigate the abundance of buttercups in managed and unmanaged areas in terms of their height and abundance.

Hypothesis
Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant correlation between the management of an area and percentage cover of buttercups.

Alternate Hypothesis (H1): There is a significant correlation between the management of an area and percentage cover of buttercups.

Background information
The Buttercups are considered to be simple because the floral parts of the plant: petals, sepals, stamens and pistils-are all of an indefinite number and separate from one another. Also, the stamens and pistils are spirally inserted in a cone-like vessel, although it is often very small to see. Buttercups can have either regular or irregular flowers with anywhere from 3 to 15 sepals, often coloured like petals, and 0 to 23 actual petals.[2] There are often, but not always, numerous stamens and numerous simple pistils (also known as apocarpous). The floral parts are all independently attached below a superior ovary.

Figure 1
The most accurate pattern to look for is the multiple simple pistils at the centre of the flower. In more advanced plant families there is typically only one pistil, the result of a reduction in numbers along with the fusion of several pistils to make a single compound pistil. A flower with multiple pistils is very likely a Buttercup, but could potentially be confused with species from the Rose subfamily of the Rose Family. A secondary pattern that is often easier to see, but not as consistent, is the hooked tips on the pistils. If you are not sure if you are looking at several separate pistils or some that are only partially fused together, then look for a hook at the tip of the pistil. Many species have hooked pistils, and the hooks often