Flowers mixed 1 | birkin-wildlife

Butterbur (Petasites hybridus)

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Asterales

Family: Asteraceae

Tribe: Senecioneae

Genus: Petasites

The plants commonly referred to as Butterbur are found in the daisy family Asteraceae in the genus Petasites. They are mostly quite robust plants with thick, creeping underground rhizomes and large Rhubarb-like leaves during the growing season. Another common name for many species of this genus is Sweet Coltsfoot. It is also occasionally called Pestilence wort. Synonyms include P. officinalis, P. ovatus and P. vulgaris.

Petasites is very closely related to the genus Tussilago (Coltsfoot), and also related to the huge genus Senecio.

Typically found growing in shady places beside waterways, ditches, in wet meadows and copses, marshes, flood plains and damp roadsides. Common Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) is a herbaceous perennial plant in the family Asteraceae, native to mainland Europe, as far north as Scandinavia and northern Asia and has been introduced to North America. This species has a wide distribution in Britain, although female plants are found only in north and central England. Colonies containing just male plants are thought to be clones from deliberately planted specimens, perhaps introduced to provide a supply of nectar for bee-keeping.

Butterbur is so called, as the huge rhubarb-like leaves with their downy undersides were supposed to have been used to wrap around butter during hot weather in the days before refrigerators. The leaves are still used today as impromptu sunshades or umbrellas; indeed the name of the genus Petasites derives from the Greek word petasos, a type of felt hat with a wide brim worn by shepherds, and familiar to us in representations of Mercury. It is also sometimes referred to as "umbrella leaves" due to the size of its foliage. Other more or less descriptive common names abound, including blatterdock, bogshorns, butter-dock, butterly dock, capdockin, flapperdock, and langwort. 'Lagwort' is an old name we sometimes find for it, in reference to the leaves delaying their appearance till after the flowers have faded, though once the leaf-shoots make a start, they grow with almost tropical luxuriance.

Butterbur is a perennial herb, that spreads mainly by vegetative reproduction from fragments of an underground creeping structure called a rhizome. It has a fleshy, stout root-stock, extensively creeping, which, like the Coltsfoot, sends up the flowers before the leaves appear. Individual plants function either as males or females, a condition known as ‘dioecy’.

It sends up stalks of pale pink or reddish flowers very early in spring, often as early in the year as

February, with several inflorescences clustered on a 5-20 cm stem. The short spikes of flowers are

produced just before these leaves in Spring, emerging with only a few elongated basal bracts and

are usually green, flesh coloured or dull white

depending on species. The flower-heads are,

however, not produced singly, on separate stalks,

but in crowned clusters in a dense spike, with

many bracts interspersed, at the summit of a round,

thick flower-stalk, 4 inches to a little over a foot

in height, which first appears at the end of February

or beginning of March, and is generally of a

purplish hue.

There are two kinds of flowers - the male or stamen-

bearing and the female or seed producing - as a rule on different spikes, the female flowers being in denser, longer spikes than the male flowers, which are in shorter, loose clusters. Occasionally a few female flowers are found on the male spikes, and a few male flowers on the female spikes. In southern England, nearly all butterbur plants are male; the looser, later-flowering female plants are found mainly under shade in northern and central England. The corollas are pale reddish purple or fleshcoloured, bell-shaped in the male flowers, and containing abundant nectar, but only threadlike in the female flowers, which contain no nectar, and are succeeded by the white feathery pappus, which crowns the seeds.

The flowers of butterbur appear before the leaves. The pink emerging flower stalks, pushing their way through the earth, are similar in appearance to button mushrooms, and in some parts of the country, butterbur plants were known as ‘early mushrooms’. When fully extended, the stocky flower spikes are purplish towards the base, with pale reddish-violet flowers. Functional male and female flowers occur on separate plants; male flower spikes are shorter than those belonging to female plants. The honey-scented flowers are popular with early queen bees. Bees visit the flower heads, although only male or sterile flowers produce nectar. 'The early flowering of this rank

weed,' Hooker writes, 'induces the Swedish farmers to plant it near their beehives.

Thus we see in our gardens the bees assembled on its affinities, P. alba and P.

fragrans, at a season when scarcely any other flowers are expanded.'

In April, as the flowers begin to decay, the leaves appear. Once the leaves appear,

butterbur somewhat resembles rhubarb—one of its common names is bog rhubarb.

The leaves are large, on stout 80-120 cm tall stems, round hollowed channelled

foot-stalks, with a diameter of 40-70 cm, and when full grown very large - the largest

leaves of any plant in Great Britain - the blade sometimes attaining 3 feet in diameter.

It is roundish, heartshaped at the base, scalloped at the edges, with the portion

between the projections finely toothed. The leaves are white and cobwebby with

down both above and below when young, but when mature, most of the covering

disappears from the upper surface though the leaves still remain grey and more or

less downy beneath.

Very little other vegetation can live where these leaves grow, for they exclude light and air from all beneath, and where the plant abounds, it has been described as 'the most pernicious of all the weeds which this country produces.'

Feeding and other inter-species relationships associated with Petasites:

leaf is mined by larva Trypeta zoe - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
leaf is mined by larva Vidalia cornuta - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
Various craneflies live in the roots or leaf bases and bees like the huge flowers.
The species even has its own moth: the butterbur moth.

In Germany an old name for the plant was Pestilenzenwurt, but one finds really very little either of evil or good assigned by the older writers to the Butterbur as compared with most other herbs. The old German name was given it, not as suggesting the plant was provocative of pestilence, but as an indication of its value as a remedy in time of such calamity (Henslow).

Anne Pratt says the former name of this plant was the 'plague-flower,' as it gained a successful reputation among the few remedies during the time of that malady. Lyte, in his Herbal, 1578, calls it 'a soveraigne medicine against the plague', and remarks of its leaves that 'one of them is large enough to cover a small table, as with a carpet,' and they are often 2 feet in width. Under its ample foliage, the poultry in farm meadows, shelter themselves from the rain, or find a cool retreat from the noonday sun. The Swedish farmers plant it in great quantities near their beehives, as bees are attracted by its flowers.

The seeds in some parts of the country have been used for love divination.

'The seeds of butterdock must be sowed by a young unmarried woman half an hour before sunrise on a Friday morning, in a lonesome place. She must strew the seeds gradually on the grass, saying these words:

I sow, I sow!

Then, my own dear,

Come here, come here,

And mow and mow!
The seed being scattered, she will see her future husband mowing with a scythe at a short distance from her. She must not be frightened, for if she says, "Have mercy on me," he will immediately vanish! This method is said to be infallible, but it is looked upon as a bold, desperate, and presumptuous undertaking!'

Medicinal Uses

Butterbur has been highly valued as a medicinal plant since ancient times. Amongst other uses, the roots were dried and used to treat fevers, particularly the plague. More recently, research has shown that extracts of butterbur contain active ingredients that are extremely effective in preventing and reducing the pain associated with migraines and relieving the symptoms of asthma.

Butterbur is often described as possessing an unpleasant smell, but being malodorous hasn't protected it from harvesting by humans. The plant has a long history of use as an anti-spasmodic, thought to be effective for such conditions as stomach cramps, whooping cough, and asthma.

Externally, butterbur has been applied as a poultice over wounds or skin ulcerations.

Butterbur was used by native Americans as a remedy for headache and inflammation. Some Butterbur contains petasin and isopetasin, with the highest concentrations occurring in the root. The best-documented beneficial effect of Butterbur extracts are as a treatment of migraine headaches. Several mainstream double-blind studies have shown that extracts of Butterbur petain and/or isopetasin are effective both in preventing and in relieving migraine, with the best results coming in more severe cases. Eg. Neurology, 2004 Dec 28;63(12):2240-4. Additionally, a peer-reviewed journal published a Swiss study showing Butterbur extract to be an effective treament for hay fever (without the sedative effect of the antihistamine cetirizine (Zyrtec). Br Med J. 2002;324:144-146.

Butterbur naturally contains components called pyrrolizidine alkaloids. They are toxic to the liver and may cause cancers. The concentrations are often highest in the rhizomes and stalks and lowest in the leaves and may vary depending on where the plants are grown. Butterbur extract should be taken only when prepared by a reputable laboratory. Long-term health effects and interaction with other drugs have not been studied.

Selected species ;

Petasites albus White Butterbur

Petasites amplus

Petasites doerfleri

Petasites formosanus

Petasites fragrans Winter Heliotrope

Petasites frigidus (syn. P. speciosa) Arctic Butterbur

or Arctic Sweet Coltsfoot

Petasites hybridus Common Butterbur
Petasites japonicus Giant Butterbur, or Fuki
Petasites kablikianus
Petasites paradoxus
Petasites radiatus
Petasites sagittatus
Petasites sibiricus

Petasites spurius
Petasites tatewakianus
Petasites tricholobus
Hybrids
Petasites x vitifolius

What Is Butterbur Used for Today?

A special toxin-free butterbur extract has been investigated for the treatment of a variety of illnesses. Two double-blind trials suggest that this butterbur extract may be useful for preventing migraine headaches. In addition, meaningful evidence indicates that this extract is helpful for hay fever.

There is some evidence that butterbur has anti-inflammatory and anti-spasmodic effects and on this basis it has been proposed as a treatment for a variety of musculoskeletal pain conditions; however, meaningful clinical trials have not been reported. Butterbur has also undergone highly preliminary investigation for treatment of asthma and for protecting the stomach lining from injury, thereby helping to prevent ulcers.

Preliminary evidence suggests that butterbur is not likely to be particularly effective for allergic skin diseases, such as eczema.

Safety Issues

In studies and post marketing surveillance involving adults and children, burping and other mild gastrointestinal complaints have been the main side effect of butterbur extract.

Butterbur contains liver-toxic and possibly carcinogenic components called pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Fortunately, it is possible to remove these compounds from butterbur products. In Germany, the maximum allowable content of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in butterbur products has been set at 1 microgram per daily recommended dose.

Butterbur should not be used by pregnant or nursing women, young children, or people with severe kidney or liver disease, until further safety testing has been performed.

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Chickweed

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Common Chickweed
(Stellaria media)

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllales
Family: Caryophyllaceae, Pink or Carnation Family
Genus: Stellaria
Species: S. media

Stellaria is a genus of about 90-120 species

flowering plants in the family Caryophyllaceae,

with a cosmopolitan distribution. Common names

include stitchwort and chickweed. Chickweed is

another plant of Eurasian origin that's made itself quite at home in the States and everywhere else that European people have travelled. It is now a common weed almost world-wide. In both Europe and North America this plant is an invasive weed of gardens, fields, and disturbed grounds. Control is difficult due to the heavy seed sets.

Widespread and common throughout Britain, common chickweed is a cosmopolitan species. Common chickweed is a very common weed. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and can grow in heavy clay soil. The plant will grow in acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil. It greatly prefers cool and damp conditions, and will not survive where it's dry and hot. Chickweed has shallow, fibrous, fragile roots. It's easy to uproot accidentally, but will quickly recover if put back.

It is extremely variable in its appearance, but generally it has a very slender tap root and greatly branching leafy stems, which lie along the ground. Chickweed is an annual, growing to 0.12m by 0.5m. It is in leaf all year, in flower all year, and the seeds ripen all year. It can be very lush and vigorous when grown in a fertile soil, but in infertile soils it will flower and set seed whilst still very small.

The plant's weak stems mostly trail along the ground (for up to about sixteen inches), but the growing ends may be upright (up to eight inches high). The stems branch very frequently and take root at the leaf junctions. If you look very closely at the stems, you'll see a single line of hairs running up the side, and you'll notice that the line changes sides at each leaf junction.

Stem length: 5-40 cm

The leaves are opposite, smooth, and oval (with a

point at the tip), and the older, lower leaves are

stalked and vary in size from 3 to 20 mm in length,

they are oval in shape and have long stalks, while

the upper new leaves lack stalks and tend to be

larger (up to 25 mm in length).

Size Leaf length: 3-20 mm

Chickweed is just about always flowering, except in

the dead of winter. It has tiny white flowers, about a

quarter inch in diameter, in the leaf axils or in

terminal clusters, with five deeply notched petals

that look like ten, and five green sepals that are

longer than the petals. Many small, white flowers

are produced; the stamens have reddish-violet

anthers. The flowers close at night and open in the

morning. They also close when it's about to rain.

Possibly they respond to changes in air pressure.

It does seem that the flowers don't open at all, or if they do then only partially, when a low pressure system is lingering. Chickweed also reacts to nightfall by folding its leaves over the growing tip to protect it enfolding and protecting the tender buds of new shoots.

The flowers are hermaphrodite (has both male and female organs) and are pollinated by bees and small flies. The plant is self-fertile. It is noted for attracting wildlife.

The flowers develop into small capsule-like fruits

which contain many tiny seeds. The seeds generally

germinate within a few years, but can remain viable

for much longer. A single plant may produce around

2,500 reddish-brown seeds, which can remain

viable in the soil for 25-40 years.

Chickweed occurs either as an annual species or

as a short-lived perennial, and produces several

generations a year, each one flowering after just

5 weeks of growth. It can remain green and often

in flower throughout winter. This species should

not need any encouragement, you are much more

likely to be trying to get rid of it than trying to

introduce it (eating it is one way of doing that!).

Chickweed is generally used as food. The leaves

and stems can be added to salads, cooked as

greens, or added to anything you might add greens

to. Just don't cook it for more than a few minutes.

Chickweed is particularly high in ascorbic acid

(vitamin C) and mucilage, and also provides rutin,

para amino benzoic acid (PABA), gamma linolenic

acid (GLA, an omega-6 fatty acid derivative), niacin,

riboflavin (B2), thiamin (B1), beta carotene (A),

magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, zinc,

phosphorus, manganese, sodium, selenium, and

silicon. The seeds are also edible. The plant can be dried for storage. Chickweed is a fairly safe food, however, as almost everything is somehow toxic if you use enough of it, over-consumption of this plant may give you diarrhea

The leaves contain saponins. Although toxic, these substances are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also broken down by thorough cooking. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisable not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish.

Chickens and many other birds love chickweed, and eat both the plants and the seeds, which is how it gets its name. If you keep birds as pets, you can feed it to them too.

Young leaves - raw or cooked as a potherb. They can be available all year round if the winter is not too severe. Very nutritious, they can be added to salads whilst the cooked leaves can scarcely be distinguished from spring spinach.

Seed - ground into a powder and used in making bread or to thicken soups. It would be very fiddly to harvest any quantity of this seed since it is produced in small quantities throughout most of the year and is very small. The seed contains 17.8% protein and 5.9% fat

Composition

Figures in grams (g) or milligrams (mg) per 100g of food.

Leaves (Dry weight)

0 Calories per 100g

Water: 0%

Protein: 14.5g; Fat: 2.4g; Carbohydrate: 63.9g; Fibre: 20.5g; Ash: 19.3g;

Minerals - Calcium: 0mg; Phosphorus: 0mg; Iron: 0mg; Magnesium: 0mg; Sodium: 0mg; Potassium: 0mg; Zinc: 0mg;

Vitamins - A: 30mg; Thiamine (B1): 0.02mg; Riboflavin (B2): 0.14mg; Niacin: 0.51mg; B6: 0mg; C: 375mg;

Notes: The figure for vitamin A is in mg

Medicinal Uses
Astringent; Carminative; Demulcent; Depurative; Diuretic;

Emmenagogue; Expectorant; Galactogogue; Kidney; Laxative;

Ophthalmic; Poultice; Refrigerant; Vulnerary.

The plant has uses in folk medicine; 17th century herbalist John

Gerard recommended it as a remedy for mange. Medicinally,

chickweed is a tonic, diuretic, demulcent, expectorant, and mildly

laxative. It's often recommended for asthma, bronchitis, or

congestion. It's also said to help control obesity and is an ingredient

in some herbal weight loss preparations. Externally, chickweed

relieves itching and inflammation and is generally soothing and

moisturizing. It has been known to soothe severe itchiness even

where all other remedies have failed. It can be used for any minor

skin infections or irritations, and is an ingredient in a number of

commercial skin care products.

However, the benefits ascribed to chickweed may simply be the result of its high nutritional value, especially the presence of gamma-linolenic acid (GLA). The medicinal effects of this fatty acid read much like the values ascribed to chickweed. GLA is recommended for a variety of skin problems, for hormone imbalances as in PMS, and for arthritis. It clears congestion, controls obesity, reduces inflammation, reduces water retention, acts as tonic for the liver, and reduces the negative effects of alcohol abuse.

It should not be used medicinally by pregnant

women. Taken internally it is useful in the treatment

of chest complaints and in small quantities it also

aids digestion. It can be applied as a poultice and

will relieve any kind of roseola and is effective

wherever there are fragile superficial veins. An

infusion of the fresh or dried herb can be added to

the bath water and its emollient property will help

to reduce inflammation - in rheumatic joints for

example - and encourage tissue repair. Chickweed

is best harvested between May and July, it can be

used fresh or be dried and stored for later use. A

decoction of the whole plant is taken internally as

a post-partum depurative, emmenagogue,

galactogogue and circulatory tonic. It is also

believed to relieve constipation and be beneficial

in the treatment of kidney complaints. The

decoction is also used externally to treat rheumatic

pains, wounds and ulcers. The expressed juice of

the plant has been used as an eyewash.

Feeding and other inter-species relationships
Associated with Stellaria media:

leaf is grazed by larva Hypera diversipunctata - a weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Morris, M.G., 2002

A food plant for the caterpillars of many butterfly species.

Coltsfoot

Coltsfoot
(Tussilago fargara)

Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Tussilago
Species: T. farfara

Coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) is a plant in the family

Asteraceae

Other common names include Ass's foot, Bull's foot,

Butterbur, Coughwort, Farfara, Foal's foot, Foalswort,

Horse Foot and Winter heliotrope.

The Coltsfoot name refers to the shape of the leaves.

Common throughout Britain, reaching heights of up to 1065m in Scotland. Elsewhere, this species is found throughout most of Europe reaching its northernmost extreme in Norway. It also occurs in North Africa, western and northern Asia, and has been introduced to North America.

Coltsfoot is native to several locations in Europe and Asia. It is also a common plant in North America and South America where it has been introduced, most likely by settlers as a medicinal item. The plant is often found in waste and disturbed places and along roadsides and paths. In some areas it is considered an invasive species. In New England, coltsfoot is an invasive weed that threatens native plant habitats.

Occurs in a range of habitats that are typically disturbed, including rough grassland, shingle and sand dunes, road verges, waste ground, cliff slopes, spoil heaps and river banks. In agricultural areas, colt’s-foot can be a stubborn arable weed. This is a common plant of roadsides, conspicuous because it blooms very early in spring. In the areas where it is found, coltsfoot is usually the first small herb to flower in spring, it is still called the "son before the father" plant because its flowers appear long before its woolly leaves. The leaves appear only after the flowers have gone. The large leaves with their thick felt-covered undersides occur in rosettes. They are similar in shape to animal hooves, hence the names colt’s or foal’s-foot. The distinctive, dark green, hoof-shaped leaves are hairy, which helps to distinguish coltsfoot from similar-looking plants.

This plant has solid, purplish woolly stems that give rise to the flowers. The shiny

yellow flowers resemble small dandelions, and open in the sun. The plant's

composite flower heads contain two kinds of flowers: little tube-like ones in the

middle and strap-shaped ones on the outside. This herb is often found growing

along sunny sidewalks and roadsides, and in rocky fields.

Coltsfoot is a perennial herbaceous plant that spreads by seeds and rhizomes.

Tussilago is often found in colonies of dozens of plants. The flowers, which

superficially resemble dandelions, appear in early spring before dandelions.

The flowers, which are present from February to April, close at night and in poor

weather and are pollinated by a range of flies and bees. The seeds are dispersed

by wind, but to seedlings require constantly moist conditions to survive. Most

plants spread from the rhizome by vegetative reproduction.

Height: 3-8 inches

Flower color: yellow

Flower head diameter: 15-35 mm

Flowering shoot length: 5-15 cm

Leaf width: 10-20 cm

It has been used medicinally as a cough suppressant. The name "tussilago" itself means "cough suppressant." The plant has been used since at least historical times to treat lung ailments such as asthma as well as various coughs by way of smoking. Crushed flowers supposedly cured skin conditions, and the plant has been consumed as a food item.

This plant has been put to a wide range of uses through the years. The leaves can be incorporated into salads, cooked and used to make tea. The felt from the leaves has been used as a stuffing agent and dried for use as tinder. Colt’s-foot is still available in health-food outlets as a treatment for coughs and other chest problems. The plant must be boiled before being ingested as it contains substances that can be toxic to the liver.

The plant has been used since pre history to relieve coughs and other respiratory problems. It is made into herbal teas (un-opened flowers and leaves) and is found in commercial cough preparations. It is an ingredient in concoctions used to treat diarrhea. The leaves are sometimes smoked for relief of congestion. The crushed leaves or a leaf decoction is used externally where it may be applied to sores, injuries, rashes and painful joints. The large mucilage content accounts for most of the medical benefit derived from the plant. It also contains tannins, salts, sterols* and inulin** several other possibly active components.

Coltsfoot's (Tussilago farfara) lore lies in its smoke. During World War II, soldiers in Europe smoked it as a substitute for tobacco, and through the ages the dried leaves were burnt and inhaled to treat lung infections. Some still refer to it as "coughwort." It is still smoked in some areas today as herbal tobacco, and the names ‘baccy plant’ and ‘poor-man’s-baccy’ survive in some parts of Britain.

*Studies from the 1950s and recent research shows plant sterols lower cholesterol.
**Inulin contains dietary fibre, increases the body's absorption of calcium and may have beneficial effects on bacteria in the digestive track including providing some protection from bacterial infections. It is also suspected to cause food allergies in some people. It is an ingredient in many foods where it may be used as a fat or sugar substitute. It is filling and tastes sweet but is not absorbed into the blood.

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Groundsel

Groundsel
(Senecio vulgaris)

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Asterales

Family: Asteraceae

Genus: Senecio

Species: Senecio vulgaris

Synonyms; Grundy Swallow, Ground Glutton, Simson, Sention.

The name Groundsel is of old origin, being derived from the

Anglo-Saxon groundeswelge, meaning literally, 'ground

swallower,' referring to the rapid way the weed spreads. In

Scotland and the north of England it is still in some localities

called Grundy Swallow - only a slight corruption of the old form

of the word - and is also there called Ground Glutton. In Norfolk

it is often called Simson or Sention, which has by some been

considered an abbreviation of 'Ascension Plant.' It seems more

probable that 'Sention' is a corruption of the Latin, Senecio,

derived from Senex (an old man), in reference to its downy head of seeds; 'the flower of this herb hath white hair and when the wind bloweth it away, then it appeareth like a bald-headed man.'

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris) is a cosmopolitan (world-wide) annual weed of cultivation in the family Asteraceae. It is rarely found away from gardens or other areas of regularly disturbed ground. Extremely variable in all its parts, the deeply toothed leaves and slightly fleshy stems topped with rayless, yellow flower heads (capitula) and fluffy white seed heads are very familiar to gardeners everywhere. This plant can grow from seed to seeding in only a few weeks and do so in all types of soils, damp or dry.

The genus Senecio, belonging to the large family Compositae, includes about 900 species, which are spread over all parts of the globe, but are found in greatest profusion in temperate regions. Nine are natives of this country. The essential character of the genus is an involucre (the enveloping outer leaves of the composite heads of flowers) consisting of a single series of scales of equal length. The florets of the flower-heads are either all tubular, or more commonly, the central tubular and the marginal strap-shaped. The prevailing colour of the flowers in this genus is yellow purple (white or blue being comparatively rare).

A very common weed throughout Europe and Russian Asia, not extending to the tropics. It is abundant in Britain, being found up to the height of 1,600 feet in Northumberland. It grows almost everywhere, and is to be found as frequently on the tops of walls as among all kinds of rubbish and waste ground, but especially in gardens. Groundsel is one of those plants which follows civilized man wherever he settles, for there is hardly a European colony in the world in which it does not spring up upon the newly tilled land, the seeds probably having mingled with the grain which the European takes with him to the foreign country. Other home weeds, such as the thistle, have made their way across the seas in the same manner.

Similar species - Woodland Groundsel - Senecio sylvaticus

A variety of Senecio vulgaris, named S. radiata (Koch), with minute rays to the outer florets, is found in the Channel Islands.

Growing to a height of 10-40cm (4-16in), a winter annual (sometimes biennial) weed of

cultivated soil and disturbed ground. Leaves are arranged along the round or slightly

angular stem, erect, stem in a spiral and are deeply lobed with toothed margins, lower

ones stalked, upper ones clasping the stem, and may be smooth to hairy or woolly.

Stems are hollow and succulent, often branching at the top and are frequently purple in

colour. It is juicy, not woody, and generally smooth, though sometimes bears a little loose,

cottony wool. The root consisting of numerous white fibres.

The leaves are oblong, wider and clasping at the base, a dull, deep green colour, much

cut into (pinnatifid), with irregular, blunt-toothed or jagged lobes, not unlike the shape of

oak leaves. Plants have a very variable habit and leaf shape. The level of variability

depends on the amount of soil disturbance. In a frequently disturbed soil more genotypes

are recorded, in a less disturbed habitat the population is more stable. Some plants have

ligulate ray florets and hybrids occur with Oxford ragwort, S. squalidus. It is essentially an inbreeding species and ecotypes have developed with tolerance to saline conditions and to acid rain. Races of groundsel have developed with resistance to one or more herbicide groups.

Open clusters of self fertile small yellow cylindrical rayless flower heads 5-12mm (0.25-0.5in) long with black-tipped bracts, are in close terminal clusters or corymbs, the florets yellow and all tubular; the scales surrounding the head and forming the involucre are narrow and black-tipped, with a few small scales at their base. And can be found almost all year although March to April is the main blooming time. The flowers are usually self-fertilised.

The flowers are succeeded by downy heads of seeds. Seeds are thin and ridged, about

12mm (0.5in) long and tipped with a tuft of silky white hairs, each seed being crowned by

little tufts of hairs, by means of which they are freely dispersed by the winds. Groundsel

flowers and sets seed throughout the year. An individual plant may continue to flower and

set seed for several months. The main period of flowering is April to October and most

seed is set from May to October. Flower stems cut in bud do not ripen viable seed but seed

from plants cut in flower had germination levels of 35%. Groundsel produces around 1,200

seeds per plant.

Most seeds can germinate at once and seedlings emerge within a few days of seed

shedding. Freshly shed seed of groundsel generally requires light but not stratification for

germination. However, it has been noted that seed produced in spring is somewhat more

dormant than seed produced in summer or autumn. Seed germinates better at lower

(10-15 °C) rather than higher (20-30 °C) temperatures. Seeds buried for 6 months in soil

under natural conditions germinate readily on exposure to light. Seed germination is

increased by a period of dry storage.

Seedling emergence generally occurs from February to December with the main peak from

June to October or in May and September. Flushes of emergence are probably related to

rainfall events that follow soil cultivation. Germination and establishment is better in conditions of high humidity. Seedlings are frost tolerant but little germination occurs in winter until the temperature begins to rise. Groundsel can complete its life-cycle in 5-6 weeks but may take longer on nutrient-rich soils. In sand, sandy loam and peat soils, field seedlings emerged from the top 30-40 mm of soil with up to 80% emerging from the surface 5 mm.

Groundsel can complete its life cycle in 5-6 weeks. The cycle may take longer in richer soils.

Persistence and Spread: In studies in cultivated soil, 85% of seeds had germinated within 1 year and 100% within 5 years. In undisturbed soil, groundsel seed had declined by 87% after 6 years. Losses were due to germination and to seed death in equal amounts. Seed buried deeper in soil persists longer than seed in the upper layers of soil.

Groundsel may be controlled by cultivation with the hand or tractor-hoe. Stubble cleaning is effective in dealing with shed groundsel seeds. The surface soil should be cultivated to a depth of 50 mm and the operation repeated at 14-day intervals. The area around manure heaps, where the weed often occurs in abundance, should be kept clean to prevent groundsel seed contaminating the manure. Seed numbers in soil may be reduced by around 70% after fallowing for 1 year. Seed numbers are reduced to a lesser extent under cropping with winter wheat. Crop competition reduces seed production by shading out the weed. Regular fallowing every 5th year over a 15-year period stabilised seed numbers at a low level provided that the groundsel was not allowed to grow uncontrolled during the intervening cropped years. Groundsel seedlings with 2-6 leaves are tolerant of flame weeding but the seeds are susceptible to soil solarization.

Biological control control of groundsel with the naturalised rust fungus Puccinia

lagenophorae, Cooke. has been the subject of much research. The fungus now

occurs widely in the UK and may cause considerable damage to groundsel

plants but there is no guarantee of an attack by the pathogen. Also different

lines of the weed vary in susceptibility to the fungus. Caterpillars of the

cinnabar moth Tyria jacobaeae feed on groundsel in June-July and may

weaken or even kill a plant before it can set seed. The caterpillars themselves

are attacked by several different predator insects that can have a drastic effect

on their numbers and hence effectiveness.

The seeds have a pappus of hairs and are widely dispersed by the wind.

Laboratory tests suggest maximum seed dispersal distances of 1.9 and 2.9

metres at wind speeds of 10.9 and 16.4 km/hour respectively but this would

be affected by plant height. The pappus also aids dispersal by adhering to

clothes and to animal fur.

Groundsel seed was a contaminant of cereal and vegetable seeds, but not of grass and clover. Groundsel can be a problem if found with forage crops because it is toxic to livestock. It contains several pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can cause progressive and irreversible liver damage, these alkaloids are also found in Common Ragwort, but Ragwort also contains other more poisonous alkaloids. A lethal dose of Groundsel is about 5-8% of the animals body weight. Sheep and goats have rumen bacteria that neutralise the alkaloids, so they are able to consume larger amounts of Groundsel, so grazing by sheep is sometimes used as a control.

According to Linnaeus, goats and swine eat this common plant freely, cows being not partial to it and horses and sheep declining to touch it, but not only are caged birds fond of it, but its leaves and seeds afford food for many of our wild species. Groundsel, in common with many other common garden weeds, such as Chickweed, Dandelion, Bindweed, Plantain, etc., may be freely given to rabbits. It is said that Groundsel will at times entice a rabbit to eat when all other food has been refused. Rabbit-keeping is a very practical way of reducing the butcher's bill, and no means of feeding the rabbits economically should be neglected. Stores of both Groundsel and Chickweed might well be dried in the summer for giving to the rabbits in winter time with their hay.

The plant has diuretic properties and has been used medicinally in the past. Consumption of large quantities by stock animals can cause liver damage. The alkaloids responsible are not destroyed by drying or by fermentation in silage.

Anglo-Saxons reputedly prized Groundsel for its medicinal properties, mainly as a herb used in poultices, it is also said to cure stagger in horses. Latin derivation - Senecio from senex "old man" from the gray hairs on the seeds, and vulgare/vulgaris meaning common. Common name derivation - from the Anglo-Saxon "grondeswyle" meaning "ground glutton", referring to it's propensity to spread quickly.

Groundsel, so well known as a troublesome weed, is connected in the minds of most of us with caged birds, and probably few people are aware that it has any other use except as a favourite food for the canary. And yet in former days, Groundsel was a popular herbal remedy, is still employed in some country districts, and still forms an item in the stock of the modern herbalist, though it is not given a place in the British Pharmacopoeia.

The whole herb is used, collected in May, when the leaves are in the best condition and dried. The fresh plant is also used for the expression of the juice.

Chemically, Groundsel contains senecin and seniocine. The juice is slightly acrid, but emollient.

Diaphoretic, antiscorbutic, purgative, diuretic, anthelmintic.

It was formerly much used for poultices and reckoned good for sickness of the stomach. A weak infusion of the plant is now sometimes given as a simple and easy purgative, and a strong infusion as an emetic: it causes no irritation or pain, removes bilious trouble and is a great cooler, or as Culpepper puts it:

'This herb is Venus's mistress piece and is as gallant and universal a medicine for all diseases coming of heat, in what part of the body so ever they be, as the sun shines upon: it is very safe and friendly to the body of man, yet causes vomiting if the stomach be afflicted, if not, purging. It doth it with more gentleness than can be expected: it is moist and something cold withal, thereby causing expulsion and repressing the heat caused by the motion of the internal parts in purges and vomits. The herb preserved in a syrup, in a distilled water, or in an ointment, is a remedy in all hot diseases, and will do it: first, safely; secondly, speedily.'

'The decoction of the herb, saith Dioscorides, made with wine and drunk helpeth the pains in the stomach proceeding from choler (bile). The juice thereof taken in drink, or the decoction of it in ale gently performeth the same. It is good against the jaundice and falling sickness (epilepsy), and taken in wine expelleth the gravel from the reins and kindeys. It also helpeth the sciatica, colic, and pains of the belly. The people in Lincolnshire use this externally against pains and swelling, and as they affirm with great success. The juice of the herb, or as Dioscorides saith, the leaves and flowers, with some Frankinsense in powder, used in wounds of the body, nerves or sinews, help to heal them. The distilled water of the herb performeth well all the aforesaid cures, but especially for inflammation or watering of the eye, by reason of rheum into them.'

Gerard says that 'the down of the flower mixed with vinegar' will also prove a good dressing for wounds, and recommends that when the juice is boiled in ale for the purpose of a purge, a little honey and vinegar be added, and that the efficacy is improved by the further addition of 'a few roots of Assarbace.' He states also that 'it helpeth the King's Evil, and the leaves stamped and strained into milk and drunk helpeth the red gums and frets in children.'

Another old herbalist tells us that the fresh roots smelled when first taken out of the ground are an immediate cure for many forms of headache. But the root must not be dug up with a tool that has any iron in its composition.

Some of the old authorities claimed that Groundsel was especially good for such wounds as had been caused by being struck by iron.

Groundsel in an old-fashioned remedy for chapped hands. If boiling water be poured on the fresh plant, the liquid forms a pleasant swab for the skin and will remove roughness.

For gout, it was recommended to 'pound it with lard, lay it to the feet and it will alleviate the disorder.'

A poultice of the leaves, applied to the pit of the stomach, is said to cause the same emetic effect as a dose of the strong infusion. A poultice made with salt is said to 'disperse knots and kernels in the flesh.'

In this country, farriers give Groundsel to horses as a cure for bot-worms, and in Germany it is said to be employed as a popular vermifuge for children.

A drachm of the juice is sufficient to take, internally.

Feeding and other inter-species relationships
Groundsel is used as a food plant by some Lepidoptera species including the

Flame Shoulder moth. Larvae of the Cinnabar Moth - Tyria jacobaeae, an insect

that feeds on Common Ragwort, also eat Groundsel. Research is also being

done with a rust fungus, Puccinia lagenophorae to control Groundsel.

Groundsel acts as a host for Cinerarea leaf rust and the fungus that causes

black root rot in peas. It can also carry seed transmitted virus diseases that

attack crop species.

Groundsel seed has been found in the droppings of sparrows, and seedlings

have been raised from the excreta of various birds. Seed has also been found

in cow manure.

Feeding and other inter-species relationships Associated with Senecio vulgaris:

is parasitised by conidial anamorph Golovinomyces cichoracearum var. fischeri - Groundsel Mildew (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae) Ing, B., 1990. Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by cleistothecium Golovinomyces cichoracearum var. fischeri - Groundsel Mildew (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae) Ing, B., 1990. Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by uredium Coleosporium tussilaginis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Coleosporiaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by subepidermal telium Coleosporium tussilaginis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Coleosporiaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by telium Puccinia lagenophorae - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
live stem is parasitised by grouped aecium Puccinia lagenophorae - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
live leaf is parasitised by grouped aecium Puccinia lagenophorae - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
live leaf is parasitised by Bremia lactucae - a downy mildew (Peronosporales: Peronosporaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
capitulum may contain larva Ensina sonchi - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
capitulum may contain larva Sphenella marginata - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
capitulum may contain larva Trupanea stellata - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
leaf is mined by larva Trypeta artemisiae - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
leaf is mined by larva Trypeta immaculata - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
leaf is mined by larva Trypeta zoe - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
leaf is grazed by larva Longitarsus gracilis - a flea beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Bullock, J.A., 1992
leaf is grazed by imago Longitarsus gracilis - a flea beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) Bullock, J.A., 1992

Feeding and other inter-species relationships Associated with Senecio sylvaticus:

is parasitised by Golovinomyces cichoracearum var. fischeri - Groundsel Mildew (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae) Ing, B., 1990
is parasitised by uredium Coleosporium tussilaginis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Coleosporiaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by subepidermal telium Coleosporium tussilaginis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Coleosporiaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
capitulum may contain larva Sphenella marginata - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988

Feeding and other inter-species relationships Associated with Welsh Goundsel Senecio cambrensis:

is parasitised by telium Puccinia lagenophorae - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
live leaf is parasitised by grouped aecium Puccinia lagenophorae - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
live stem is parasitised by grouped aecium Puccinia lagenophorae - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997

Feeding and other inter-species relationships Associated with Senecio viscosus:

is parasitised by conidial anamorph Golovinomyces cichoracearum var. fischeri - Groundsel Mildew (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae) Ing, B., 1990. Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by cleistothecium Golovinomyces cichoracearum var. fischeri - Groundsel Mildew (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae) Ing, B., 1990. Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by uredium Coleosporium tussilaginis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Coleosporiaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by subepidermal telium Coleosporium tussilaginis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Coleosporiaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
capitulum may contain larva Sphenella marginata - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
live leaf is spotted by mostly hypophyllous colony of Ramularia anamorph Ramularia senecionis - an anamorphic fungus (Mycosphaerellales: Mycosphaerellaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [causes round or angular, yellowish or pale brown spots 2-10mm diam.]

Dandelion

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale agg.)

Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Taraxacum

Dandelion (Taraxacum) is a large genus of flowering plants in the

family Asteraceae. They are tap-rooted biennial or perennial

herbaceous plants, though not occurring in the Southern

Hemisphere, is native to temperate areas of the Northern

Hemisphere of the Old World, and equally at home in pastures,

meadows and on waste ground. The preference is full sunlight, mesic conditions, and a soil that consists of loam or clay-loam. Partial sunlight is also tolerated. This plant can be very aggressive, and can regenerate from small pieces of the taproot. Though its flowers are more conspicuous in the earlier months of the summer, it may be found in bloom, and consequently also prolifically dispersing its seeds, almost throughout the year.

The name of the genus, Taraxacum, is derived from the Greek taraxos (disorder), and akos (remedy), probably referring to the curative action of the plant. The name dandelion is derived from the Old French, dent-de-lion, which is literally "lion's tooth", referring to the sharply-lobed leaves of the plant. The English spelling possibly reflects the French pronunciation at the time. In Norwegian, the dandelion is called Løvetann, which is also translated as "lion's tooth", also Löwenzahn ("lions' tooth") in German. In modern French the plant is called pissenlit, which means "urinate in bed", apparently referring to its diuretic properties. Likewise, "pissabeds" is an English folkname for this plant.

The genus is taxonomically very complex, mainly because many dandelions are genetically triploid. As most British dandelions produce fruit without being fertilised (they are 'apomictic'). An odd number of chromosomes usually is associated with sterility, but dandelions with this karyotype can reproduce without fertilization, a process called apomixis, although they may still produce a small percentage of fertile pollen, keeping some genetic contact with sexual individuals. Diploid dandelions develop seeds after cross-pollination and are self-incompatible. In most zones of southern Europe and Asia, dandelion populations are sexual or mixed sexual-apomictic, while in northern countries only triploid and tetraploid apomicts are present, as is in the zones where it is not native. This may be linked to higher temperatures, survival of pre-glacial populations and human impact, but the subject is still being studied. Because of this, polyploidy is also common; with over 250 microspecies having been recorded in the British Isles alone (Richards 1972), and is typically treated as a species aggregate, denoted as 'Taraxacum officinale agg.'. Although some botanists take a much narrower viewpoint, and only accept a total of about 60 species.

The root system consists of a stout tap root that goes down vertically and is 3' long (if not more). This tap root contains milky juice and is somewhat fleshy, and a small portion can regenerate if left in the soil. It is a resilient plant and can force its way up through tarmac. If it is cut off below soil level it comes back as a multi-crowned plant.

From its tap root, the long jagged leaves rise directly, radiating from it to form a rosette Iaying close upon the ground, each leaf being grooved and constructed so that all the rain falling on it is conducted straight to the centre of the rosette and to the root which therefore is always kept well watered. Thus the maximum amount of water is directed towards the root, which otherwise would not obtain sufficient moisture, the leaves being spread too close to the ground for the water to penetrate.

The typical basal leaf is broader toward its outer tip than at the base

(oblanceolate) in outline, although it is more or less lobed (pinnatifid)

along its length. These lobes are triangular. The margins are slightly

wavy and irregular, and sometimes coarsely dentate. There is a

prominent central vein along the length of each leaf that is hollow and

contains milky juice. This vein is usually green, but it sometimes

becomes reddish green toward the base. The leaves are shiny and

usually without hairs, although young leaves are sometimes slightly

pubescent. There are many varieties of Dandelion leaves; in some the

margin of each leaf are deeply cut into great jagged segments, either

upright or pointing somewhat backwards, and these teeth are

themselves cut here and there into lesser teeth, in others the segments

or lobes form a much less conspicuous feature, and are sometimes

almost entire. The leaves are 5-25 cm long, simple and basal, entire

or lobed, forming a rosette above the central taproot. As the leaves

grow outward they push down the surrounding vegetation, such as

grass in a lawn, killing the vegetation by cutting off the sunlight.

Each slender stalk is round and hollow. It is usually light green,

sometimes becoming light reddish green to purplish toward the base.

There may be some appressed cobwebby hairs along its length. The

shining, flower-stalks rise 4-45cm above the leaves, straight from the

root, they are leafless, smooth and bear a single bright yellow head of

flowers which is open in the daytime but closes at night. On picking

the flowers, a bitter, milky juice (latex) exudes from the broken edges

of the stem, which is present throughout the plant.

A rosette may produce several flowering stems at a time. At the apex of each flowering stalk, there is a single yellow flower head about 1-2" in diameter, and each bloom consists entirely of numerous ray florets of a bright golden yellow. . This flower head has about 150-200 yellow ray florets and no disk florets; the ray florets spread outward from the centre. This corolla is notched at the edge into five teeth, each tooth representing a petal, and lower down is narrowed into a claw-like tube, which rests on the single chambered ovary containing a single ovule. In this tube is a copious supply of nectar, which more than half fills it, and the presence of which provides the incentive for the visits of many insects. The Dandelion takes an important place among honey-producing plants, as it furnishes considerable quantities of both pollen and nectar in the early spring, when the bees' harvest from fruit trees is nearly over. It is also important from the beekeeper's point of view, because not only does it flower most in spring, no matter how cool the weather may be, but a small succession of bloom is

also kept up until late autumn, so that it is a source of honey after

the main flowers have ceased to bloom, thus delaying the need

for feeding the colonies of bees with artificial food. It has been

ascertained that no less than ninety-three different kinds of

insects are in the habit of frequenting it. The stigma grows up

through the tube formed by the anthers, pushing the pollen

before it, and insects smearing themselves with this pollen carry

it to the stigmas of other flowers already expanded, thus insuring

cross-fertilization.

The blooms are very sensitive to weather conditions: in fine

weather, all the parts are outstretched, but directly rain threatens,

the whole head closes up at once. It closes in the evening against

the dews of night, opening again in the morning though as this

opening and closing is largely dependent upon the intensity of the

light, the time differs somewhat in different latitudes and at

different seasons. The flower heads are produced sporadically

from early spring to late Autumn; they are most like to occur

during the late spring or early summer. There is a pleasant floral

scent that is somewhat musty and pollen-laden. At the base of each flower head is a ring of narrow inner and outer, green bracts (sometimes mistakenly called sepals) in two series. The inner bracts are linear or linear-lanceolate and appressed together to form a cylindrical tube around the ovaries of the flowerhead. The inner bracts stand up to support the florets and are erect until the seeds mature, then flex down to allow the seeds to disperse; the outer bracts are linear-lanceolate and always reflexed downward forming a barricade against some insects that might crawl up the stem and injure the bloom.

After pollination, and when the whole head has

matured, all the florets close up again within the

green sheathing bracts that lie beneath, and the

bloom returns very much to the appearance it had

in the bud. Each ray floret produces a single slender achene that is light brown, light gray, or slightly olive green. An achene has 5-10 longitudinal ribs with tiny teeth toward its apex. A long slender beak connects the achene with a tuft of white hairs. This beak is 2-3 times as long as the achene. The dandelion flower dries out for about 10 days and then the seed-bearing parachutes expand and lift out of the dried flower head. The dried part of the flower drops off and the parachute ball opens into a full sphere. The flower matures into a globe of fine filaments that are usually distributed by wind, carrying away the seed-containing achenes. This globe (receptacle) is often called the "dandelion clock", and blowing it apart is a popular activity for children worldwide. The parachute drops off when the seed strikes an obstacle. Some species drop

the "parachute" (called a pappus, modified sepals) from the achenes. Between the pappus and the achene, there is a stalk called a beak, which elongates as the fruit matures. The beak breaks off from the achene quite easily. Often dandelions can be observed growing in a crevice near a wall, because the blowing fruits hit the wall and the feathery pappi drop off, sending the dandelion seeds to the base of the obstacle where they germinate. After the seed is released, the parachutes lose their feathered structure and take on a fuzzy, cotton-like appearance, often called "dandelion snow." There are usually 54 to 172 seeds produced per head, but a single plant can produce more than 2000 seeds a year. It has been estimated that more than 97 000 000 seeds/hectare could be produced every year by a dense stand of dandelions. Even if severed they still manage to ripen, so they should not be left after mowing.

Small birds are very fond of the seeds of the Dandelion and pigs devour the whole plant greedily. Goats will eat it, but sheep and cattle do not care for it, though it is said to increase the milk of cows when eaten by them. Horses refuse to touch this plant, not appreciating its bitter juice. It is valuable food for rabbits and may be given them from April to September forming excellent food in spring and at breeding seasons in particular.

Common dandelion Taraxacum officinale is the most abundant and frequent weed within turfgrass in temperate climates. With increasing legislation banning herbicide & non-chemical means of control are needed replace phenoxy herbicides. The weediness of T. officinale is mainly the result of high seed production, dispersal and germination potential. A successful long-term weed control strategy should suppress established plants, exert negative effects on seed production and prevent seedling establishment.

• The potential of Sclerotinia minor to cause T. officinale seed mortality and reduce seedling emergence without impact on turfgrass species was evaluated in greenhouse and field experiments.

• A pre-emergence application of S. minor at the time of seeding and a post-emergence application at 10 days after seeding significantly reduced T. officinale emergence to 17% and 2%, respectively, compared with 70-80% germination in the untreated control. There were no adverse effects of direct S. minor contact on turfgrass seed germination, seedling emergence or seedling establishment.

• Grass overseeding alone did not improve grass quality or reduce T. officinale population densities in a low-maintained lawn environment. When S. minor was combined with grass overseeding, at application or 10 days after application, a 70-80% reduction of the T. officinale population occurred in the first year, increasing to 95% in the following year in the absence of further treatments. Turfgrass appearance and quality significantly and continuously improved up to 80%, compared with 10-20% in the control plots. Densities of other weeds, white clover Trifolium repens and field bindweed Convolvulus arvensis, were also significantly reduced when S. minor was applied with grass overseeding compared with the bioherbicide alone.

• Synthesis and applications. We have demonstrated that S. minor reduces seed numbers, seedlings and establishment of T. officinale and, when combined with grass overseeding, the grass sward flourishes and weed emergence and colonization are significantly reduced. Other broadleaf weeds are susceptible to S. minor and thus this bioherbicide could have utility in no-till maize, cereal grain and grass seed production systems, where producers are searching for non-chemical weed control.

Feeding and other inter-species relationships Associated with Taraxacum officinale agg. sensu lato:

is parasitised by Podosphaera fusca - a powdery mildew (Erysiphales: Erysiphaceae) Ing, B., 1990
is parasitised by pycnium Puccinia hieracii var. hieracii - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by telium Puccinia hieracii var. hieracii - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
is parasitised by uredium Puccinia hieracii var. hieracii - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
capitulum may contain larva Ensina sonchi - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
capitulum may contain larva Paroxyna producta - a gall fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) White, I.M., 1988
leaf is galled by chlamydospore Protomyces pachydermus - an ascomycete (Taphrinales: Protomycetaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [causes small purplish swellings]
leaf is galled by sorus Synchytrium taraxaci - a chytridiomycete fungus (Chytridiales: Synchytriaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [causes yellow, ornage or red galls]
leaf is parasitised by uredinoid, epiphyllous aecium Puccinia hieracii var. hieracii - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
leaf is parasitised by amphigenous, in small clusters spread uniformly over whole leaf aecium Puccinia variabilis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
leaf is parasitised by telium Puccinia variabilis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997
leaf is spotted by hypophyllous colony of Ramularia anamorph Ramularia taraxaci - an anamorphic fungus (Mycosphaerellales: Mycosphaerellaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [causes round, pale spots with purple margins]
leaf is spotted by uredium Puccinia variabilis - a rust fungus (Uredinales: Pucciniaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [causes very small yellow or purplish spots]
leaf (mid-rib) is mined by larva Phytomyza wahlgreni - a leaf-mining fly (Diptera: Agromyzidae) Spencer, K.A., 1972 [causing a gall-like swelling]
leaf-mine may house puparium Chromatomyia farfarella - a leaf-mining fly (Diptera: Agromyzidae) Spencer, K.A., 1972
leaf is mined by larva Chromatomyia farfarella - a leaf-mining fly (Diptera: Agromyzidae) Spencer, K.A., 1972 [mine linear]
live peduncle is galled by chlamydospore Protomyces pachydermus - an ascomycete (Taphrinales: Protomycetaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [cauases small purplish swellings]
live peduncle is galled by sorus Synchytrium taraxaci - a chytridiomycete fungus (Chytridiales: Synchytriaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [causes yellow, ornage or red galls]
live petiole is galled by sorus Synchytrium taraxaci - a chytridiomycete fungus (Chytridiales: Synchytriaceae) Ellis, M.B. & J.P., 1997 [causes yellow, ornage or red galls]

Dogs Mercury

Dogs Mercury
(Mecurialis perennis)

Dog's Mercury is a spring flower found across

Europe, but almost absent from Ireland, Orkney

and Shetland. This plant favours alkaine (basic)

soils and can be found in abundance in limestone

regions, particularly in Yorkshire.

It is frequently found covering large areas in dense

stands as an understorey plant in woodlands, it also

favours deep shade and can survive in semi-shade,

however in areas of high light intensity Dog's

Mercury will give way to different plants.

Dog's Mercury, a perennial, herbaceous plant,

sending up from its creeping root numerous,

undivided stems, about a foot high.

It is a hairy perennial with erect stems bearing

several pairs of rather large, simple, serrate leaves,

and from the axils of the upper ones grow the small

green flowers, the barren on long stalks, the fertile

sessile, the first appearing before the leaves are

quite out. The stamens and pistils are on different

plants. The perianth is three-cleft to the base. The

barren flowers have nine stamens or more, the

fertile flowers two styles and two cells to the

two-lobed ovary.

It flowers from the end of March to the middle of

May and seeds in the summer. The leaves of the

male flowering plants are more pointed and less

serrated than those on the female plants, which

have longer stalks.

WILD FLOWER FINDER

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Male and female plants are rarely found intermixed, each usually growing in large patches. The female are less common than the male, and the plant increases more by the spreading of its creeping rootstocks and stems than by seed.

Dog's Mercury has a disagreeable odour and is extremely acrid, being poisonous to animals in the fresh state. Dog's Mercury has proved fatal to sheep, and Annual Mercury to human beings who had made soup from it. It has been said, however, that boiling or drying destroys its harmfulness, and that it is innocuous in hay.

Its chemical constituents have not been ascertained.

Honesty

Honesty
(Lunaria annua)

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Brassicales

Family: Brassicaceae

Genus: Lunaria

Species:

Lunaria annua - Annual Honesty

Lunaria rediviva - Perennial Honesty

Lunaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae,

native to central and southern Europe. Lunaria is derived from

luna, the moon, and refers to the shape of the seedpods. It

includes two species, Perennial honesty and Annual honesty.

They are widely grown as ornamental plants in gardens, and

have become naturalised in many temperate areas away from

their native habitat. The plants grows in light (sandy), medium

(loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant tolerates acid, neutral

and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light

woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil but can tolerate

drought. Plants are fast-growing and usually self-sow freely. A

good bee and butterfly plant.

Other names: Honesty, Bolbonac, Silver dollar, Penny flower,

Money plant, Moneywort, Moonwort.

Annual Honesty (Lunaria annua) is a tall (height about 1 m), Biennial plant found throughout Europe.

The stem elongates in early spring, and is stiffly hairy. It has large, pointed oval leaves and are

initially produced in pairs and are arranged alternately up the stem. Its cordate (heart shaped),

acuminate (tapering to a point) leaves are finely serrated or coarsely toothed and medium green

to bright green in spring and summer but darker during the winter months; they are sometimes

tinged with maroon.. The common name "Honesty" arose in the 16th century, and it may be due

to the translucent seed-pods which are like flattened pea-pods and borne on the plant through

winter.

Flowering in April/May, the fragrant flowers, individually stalked, have 4 petals and

are usually purple but may be white or parti- coloured, and are produced in groups

at the top of the erect main stem and branches. The plant is self-fertile. The flowers

are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees,

flies and Lepidoptera (Moths & Butterflies). It is noted for attracting wildlife.

The green seedpods are large, circular and flattened and are firmly attached to the

stem. Seeds are large, stongly compressed in two rows. The flat green seedpods

often take on a purple colouration during the ripening process, which is usually

complete by early August. The outer cases and seeds then fall away, leaving the

intermediate membranes still attached to the plants. A flat, thin-walled, translucent

silicula is formed, leaving 'Silver Penny' which is used in floral arrangements.

Biennial honesty plants have an absolute (and considerable) vernalisation

requirement; they will not flower in spring unless they have been over- wintered

as well-established plants. The plant requires a cold temperature vernalisation period of at least 10 weeks at 5°C to induce maximum flower production Pierik (1967).

Most honesty plants are biennials, with well-branched and deeply penetrating root systems, on which develop small tubers containing overwintering carbohydrate reserves.

Common honesty is an old-fashioned dual-purpose plant, grown partly for its fragrant bright flowers in spring and early summer, but also for its unique seed-heads, oval and translucent, gleaming with an eerie silver light and coveted by dried-flower arrangers. It is properly grown as a biennial, and makes large, well-branched plants in its second year, after which it will seed itself freely around the garden. However, smaller plants can be grown as hardy annuals from an early sowing, with a smaller flower display, but very good compact seed-heads.

Perennial Honesty (Lunaria rediviva) is a tall (height about 1 m), hairy-stemmed perennial found throughout Europe in damp woods, and on lime. L. rediviva has a potential to grow up to 24 to 30 inches high. It has large, pointed oval leaves with marked serrations. The common name "Honesty" arose in the sixteenth century and may be due to the translucent seed-pods which are like flattened pea-pods and borne on the plant through winter. Plants are hardy to about -15°c.

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Lesser Celandine

Lesser Celandine
(Ficaria Verna)
Synonym;
Ranunculus ficaria

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Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Ranunculales

Family: Ranunculaceae

Genus: Ficaria

Species: F. verna

Lesser celandine, (Ficaria verna) is a low

growing, hairless perennial plant, with fleshy

dark green, heart-shaped leaves. According to

Gilbert White, a diarist writing around 1800 in the

Hampshire village of Selborne, the plants came

out on February 21st, but it is more commonly

reported to flower from March until May, and is

sometimes called the "spring messenger" as a

consequence.

Synonyms and Common names: Ficaria ranunculoides (Moench.), pilewort, small celandine, smallwort, figwort, brighteye, butter and cheese. Before the introduction of the binomial system of

naming plants, The Lesser Celandine was known as Ranunculus foliis cordatis angulatis petiolatis, which meant ' the Buttercup with cordate (heart-shaped) leaves and angled petioles'. With the Binomial system, the names became much shorter, before this time each plant had as its name a short descriptive phase or sentence in Latin which had to memorised in order to refer to a particular species accurately.

Its botanical name, Ranunculus ficaria, is derived from the Latin word rana meaning frog, because frogs live in the same habitats as the buttercup family (i.e. marsh), to which the lesser celandine belongs, and ficus (a fig), because its tubers resemble bunches of figs.

Its common name, lesser celandine, was mistakenly given to it when it was thought to be one and the same plant as the true or greater celandine, to which it bears no resemblance except in the colour of its flowers – both being yellow. The word celandine comes from the Greek word chelidon, meaning swallow, the greater celandine coming into bloom when these birds arrive, and withering on their departure.

Ficaria verna is a common perennial which emerges in the

spring from a knot of tubers. Indigenous to Britain, Europe and

western Asia. It is very common in damp, shady places. Lesser

celandine is found in a range of habitats, including woodlands,

hedgerows, churchyards, road verges, meadows, in gardens and

waste ground and on river banks. In a woodland setting it can

produce a pleasent carpet, but if it gets into a flowerbed it can can

be prolific. It prefers bare, damp ground and in the UK it is often a

persistent garden weed.

There are two native subspecies in Britain. Ficaria verna exists

in both diploid (2n=16) and tetraploid (2n=32) forms which are very

similar in appearance. However, the tetraploid type prefer more shady

locations and frequently develops bulbils at the base of the stalk.

These two variants are sometimes referred to as distinct sub-species,

R. ficaria ficaria and R. ficaria bulbifer respectively. The latter bears

tuberous bulb-like structures known as ‘bulbils’ at the points where

the leaf stalks meet the main stem of the plant.

Subspecies ficaria has a wide distribution throughout the British Isles, becoming scarcer in Scotland. Subspecies bulbifer has a more eastern distribution, and is fairly rare around the western coasts of Britain. Both subspecies are widespread in Europe. Subspecies ficaria tends to thrive better in less disturbed habitats than subspecies bulbifer.

Height - 50-250mm

Flowers - March-May

As the local name ‘spring messenger’ suggests, lesser celandine is one of the first flowers of the year. Its bright buttery yellow flowers are a cheering sight in the middle of February, brightening hedgerows and woodlands alike. Here the celandine exploits the trees’ natural

cycle, blooming while their branches are bare in

early spring, then dying back completely once

their leaves come out and the shade becomes

dense – this shade, however, is also vital, for it

kills grass and other weeds with which the

celandine could not normally compete. The

solitary flowers are more numerous than the

Buttercup. The flowers are bright, glassy yellow,

fading to nearly white at the petal base as they

age.

Single at tip of stem, opening only on fine days

Size - 20-30mm

Stalk - much longer than flower

Bracts - absent

Petals - 8-12, narrowly oval

Sepals - 3, oval

Stamens - numerous

Stigmas - 1 per ovary

Ovary - numerous, 1, celled

Type - hermaphrodite

Stem - angled upwards, base rooting

The rich yellow flowers open only during daylight throughout March and April with the Spring sunshine, often in such great numbers that they carpet with gold a woodland floor or hedge-bank. This perennial plant remains in full bloom throughout March and April but begins to fade in early summer. The solitary yellow flowers have 8 to 12 glossy petals backed by three sepals, each with a nectary at the base.
The flowers of lesser celandine close just before it begins to rain, and are pollinated by bees, such as the Buff-tailed bumble bee, Red-tailed bumble bee, flies and beetles, but very few seeds are typically set. They open when few insects are around so not many seeds are produced and spread is mainly vegetative by tiny bulbils which develop in the leaf axils and these drop onto the soil as the plant dies back.

The dark green, shiny, heart-shaped leaves grow spirally arranged around long weak, stalks from the base. The leaves are mostly radical, the petioles up to 15cm long, and the lamina up to 4cm long and 5cm broad, ovate, cordate or reniform, edge shallowly toothed, base notched. The leaves are sometimes mottled with light or dark markings, they lie flat on the ground unless held up by surrounding plants. Their dense cover can sometimes obliterate other spring flowers. The leaves and flowers die back completely in late spring. As they do so the roots swell into tubers - these can be roasted and eaten.

Hairs - absent

Stipules - absent

Leaf-stalk - base broad, overlapping other stalks

The plant grows from root-tubers, which are said to look like bunches of figs. This explains the scientific name of the plant, ficaria, which is Latin for fig. Another alternative name of this celandine, pilewort, also derives from the appearance of these knobbly tubers. Their general similarity to haemorrhoids led to the plant being widely used to treat this condition.

The fleshy roots, up to 3cm long, are oblong or club-shaped, fibrous, with many small swollen tubers, which store all the plant’s energy through winter, and are then able to push forth leaves and flowers in early spring, when other plants are still dormant. The tubers grow and multiply every year, this being another way in which the celandine spreads. Some plants have tiny swollen buds called bulbils where the leaves join the stems, and all plants have small tubers through which they are able to last the Winter.

The plant dies back during May, and remains dormant throughout the rest of summer, autumn, and winter, with nutrients stored in the underground root-tubers. These tubers allow the plant to spread quickly in disturbed areas - they break away from the roots and give rise to new plants. The subspecies bulbifer can also spread by means of the tuberous bulb-like structures it produces at the junction between plant stem and leaf stem.

Digging the area can break up the tubers making the problem worse. Dig carefully with a fork and try to remove all of the root. The following spring either try to remove any missed plants or treat with a systemic weedkiller.
The annual Tagetes minuta (Muster-John-Henry) is said to inhibit growth due to an allelopathic effect of the roots, so a planting may help to clear out an infestation of Celandine. A dressing of wood or coal ash is said to remove an infestation of Lesser Celandine.

Celandine

Celandine
(Chelidonium majus)

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Tracheophytes

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Eudicots

Order: Ranunculales

Family: Papaveraceae

Tribe: Chelidonieae

Genus: Chelidonium

Species: C. majus

Greater celandine is a tall (about 12 to 36 inches)

herbaceous plant of woodland rides, hedgerows,

roadsides and waste ground, and often grows as a

garden 'weed'. It has yellow flowers, similar to those

of a buttercup. It has strongly lobed, grey-green

leaves. It could easily be confused with some

members of the cabbage family. Also known as the

'Celandine poppy', it is a member of the poppy

family, and is often mistaken for the Welsh Poppy,

but its petals do not overlap, so is not related

to the similarly named Lesser celandine, which is a

member of the buttercup family. Greater celandine

flowers from April to October.

The blue-grey green leaves are pinnate, with lobed

and wavy margins, up to 12 inches long. When

injured, the plant exudes a yellow to orange latex.

The flowers appear from May to September, in

umbelliform cymes of about 4 flowers, and consist

of four yellow petals, each about 18 mm long, with

two sepals. A double-flowered variety occurs naturally.

The seeds are small and black, borne in a long, cylindrical capsule. Each has an elaiosome, which attracts ants to disperse the seeds (myrmecochory).

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Welsh Poppy

Welsh Poppy
(Papaver cambricum)

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Tracheophytes

Clade: Angiosperms

Clade: Eudicots

Order: Ranunculales

Family: Papaveraceae

Genus: Meconopsis

Species: M. cambricum

Although this is known as a Poppy, due to its

method of seed dispersal through little slits in the

seed capsule rather than from the top as in other

Poppies, it was reclassified as Meconopsis and not

Papaver. Meconopsis is a Greek word meaning 'Poppy-like'.

The Welsh Poppy is a well-known shade tolerant, perennial plant, frequently found in gardens and damp

rocky places. The plant reaches about 50cm high and its flowers (4-8cm across) are yellow, each one with

4 over-lapping petals borne solitarily on slender, almost hairless stems. At the centre of each flower is a

circle of yellow stamens. They bloom from June to August.

The very similar looking Greater celandine, which has numerous smaller flowers, can be distinguished by

the fact that the petals overlap on the Welsh poppy but not on the celandine.

The leaves are stalked and divided into coarsely toothed lobes. The fruit is an oval capsule with pores at the

top for seed distribution. .

Periwincle

Periwinkle
(Vinca major, Vinca minor)

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Gentianales

Family: Apocynaceae

Genus: Vinca

Vinca is a genus of five species of in the family Apocynaceae,

native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The

common name, shared with the related genus Catharanthus,

is Periwinkle. They are subshrubs or herbaceous, and have

slender trailing stems 1-2 m long but not growing more than

20-70 cm above ground; the stems frequently take root where they touch the ground, enabling the plant to spread widely. The leaves are opposite, simple broad lanceolate to ovate, 1-9 cm long and 0.5-6 cm broad; they are evergreen in four species, but deciduous in the herbaceous V. herbacea, which dies back to the root system in winter.

The flowers, produced through most of the year, are salverform (like those of Phlox), simple, 2.5-7 cm broad, with five usually violet (occasionally white) petals joined together at the base to form a tube. The fruit consists of a group of divergent follicles; a dry fruit which is dehiscent along one rupture site in order to release seeds.

The two species, described below, the Small Periwinkle V. minor and the Large Periwinkle V. major, are very popular ornamental plants in gardens, grown for dense evergreen ground cover and their delicate violet flowers. V. major has broader leaves with a hairy margin and larger flowers, is less cold hardy, and has twice as many chromosomes as V. minor. A variegated selection of V. major is commonly cultivated. Both species are considered invasive weeds in parts of the United States and Australia. They do not respond to common herbicides and require hormone based sprays to control.

The chemotherapy drugs vincristine and vinblastine are derived from this plant. This plant was formerly used in homeopathy for catarrh, dyspepsia but due to the nature and effects of the alkaloids vincamine, isovincamine and vincamidine, it is rarely used. This plant also contains tannin.

Vinca major (Large Periwinkle or Greater Periwinkle)

The closely related species Vinca minor is similar but smaller,

with narrower, hairless leaves.

This is a flowering plant native to southern Europe, from Spain

and southern France east to the western Balkans, and also in

northeastern Turkey and the western Caucasus.

It is an evergreen trailing vine, spreading along the ground and

rooting along the stems to form patches of ground cover 2-5 m

across and scrambling up to 50-70 cm high. The leaves are

opposite, 3-9 cm long and 2-6 cm broad, glossy dark green

with a leathery texture and an entire but distinctly hairy margin,

and a hairy petiole 1-2 cm long. The flowers are produced from

early spring to autumn, violet-purple, 3-5 cm diameter, with a

five-lobed corolla.

There are two subspecies, with geographically separate ranges:

Vinca major subsp. major. Leaf petioles finely hairy, hairs short. Southern Europe and Vinca major subsp. hirsuta (Boiss.) Stearn (syn. V. pubescens d'Urv.). Leaf petioles densely hairy, hairs longer. Cauasus, northeastern Turkey.

Vinca major is commonly grown in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring flowers, and vining habit. Several cultivars are available, with white to dark violet flowers and variegated foliage.

Vinca minor (Lesser Periwinkle)

A plant native to central and southern Europe, from Portugal

and France north to the Netherlands and the Baltic States, and

east to the Caucasus, and also in southwestern Asia in Turkey.

The closely related species Vinca major is similar but larger in

all parts, and with relatively broader leaves with a hairy margin.

It is a trailing subshrub, spreading along the ground and rooting

along the stems to form large clonal colonies and occasionally

scrambling up to 40 cm high but never twining or climbing. The

leaves are evergreen, opposite, 2-4.5 cm long and 1-2.5 cm

broad, glossy dark green with a leathery texture and an entire

margin. The flowers are solitary in the leaf axils and are

produced mainly from early spring to mid summer but with a

few flowers still produced into the autumn; they are violet-

purple (pale purple or white in some cultivated selections),

2-3 cm diameter, with a five-lobed corolla. The fruit is a pair

of follicles 2.5 cm long, containing numerous seeds.

The species is commonly grown as a groundcover in temperate gardens for its evergreen foliage, spring and summer flowers, ease of culture, and dense habit that smothers most weeds. The species has few pests or diseases outside it native range and is widely naturalised and classified as an invasive species in parts of North America. There are numerous cultivars, with different flower colours and variegated foliage, including 'Argenteovariegata' (white leaf edges), 'Aureovariegata' (yellow leaf edges), 'Gertrude Jekyll' (white flowers), and 'Plena' (double flowers).

Other vernacular names used in cultivation include Small Periwinkle, Common Periwinkle, and sometimes in the United States, Myrtle or Creeping Myrtle (as a result of confusion with the unrelated myrtles).

Ethnomedically, the dried leaves, aerial parts, and in some cases the entire plant of Vinca, are used to enhance blood circulation, including that of the brain, enhance metabolism in the brain, and to treat cardiovascular disorders.
Vincamine is the pharmaceutical molecule responsible for Vinca's nootropic activity.

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WILD FLOWER FINDER

Primrose

Primrose
(Primula vulgaris)

Kingdom: Plantae

Division: Magnoliophyta

Class: Mangnoliopsida

Order: Ericales

Family: Primulaceae

Genus: Primula

Species: P. vulgaris

Primula vulgaris is a species of Primula native to

Western and Southern Europe, including the British

Isles. The common name is Primrose, Common

Primrose or English Primrose. It is one of the early

spring flowers, and is in full flower during April and

May. In appropriate conditions, it can cover the

ground in open woods hedgerows, pastures and

on railway embankments throughout Great Britain, In sheltered spots in mild winters it is often found in blossom during the opening days of the year.

Primroses are perennial, low growing herbs with actinomorphic (refers to whether, and how, a flower can be divided into two or more identical or mirror-image parts.) flowers and a superior ovary which later forms a capsule which opens by valves to release the small black seeds. The plants are monoecious but heterostylous.

The Primrose possesses a root-stock, knotty with the successive bases of fallen leaves and bearing cylindrical, branched rootlets on all sides. The leaves are egg-shaped and oblong, about 5 inches long when fully developed, tapering into a winged stalk, about 1 1/4 inch broad in the middle, smooth above, the veins and veinlets prominent beneath and hairy, the margins irregularly toothed. The young leaf appears as a stout mid-rib, with the blade rolled on itself on either side into two crinkled coils laid tightly along it. The leaves are said to be eagerly eaten by the common silkworm.

Primula vulgaris is generally distinguished from other UK native primulas by its yellow flowers produced singly on long flower stalks which are covered in rather shaggy hairs.

There are two kinds of flowers, externally apparently identical, but inwardly of different

construction. Only one kind is found on each plant, never both, one kind being known as

'pin-eyed' (with the capita of the style prominent) and the other as 'thrumeyed'(with the

stamens prominent). In both, the green-tubed calyx and the pale yellow corolla of five

petals, joined into a tube below and spreading into a disk above are identical, but in the

centre of the pin-eyed flowers there is only the green knob of the stigma, looking like a

pin's head, whereas in the centre of the thrum-eyed flowers there are five anthers, in a

ring round the tube, but no central knob. Farther down the tube, there are in the pin-eyed

flowers five anthers hanging on to the wall of the corolla tube, while in the thrum-eyed, at

this same spot, is the stigma knob. At the bottom of the tube in both alike is the seed-case

and round it the nectar.

Fertilisation can only take place between pin and thrum plants. Pin to pin and thrum to

thrum pollination is ineffective.

It was Darwin who first pointed out the reason for this arrangement. Only a long tongued

insect can reach the nectar at the base of the tube and when he starts collecting the

nectar on a pin-eyed flower, pollen is rubbed on the middle part of his proboscis from the

anthers midway down the tube. As he goes from flower to flower on the same plant, there

is the same result, but when he visits another plant with thrum-eyed flowers, then the

pollen on his proboscis is just in the right place to rub on the stigma which only reaches

half-way up the tube, his head meanwhile getting pollen from the long stamens at the

throat of the tube, which in turn is transferred to the tall stigmas of the next pin-eyed

flower he may visit. Thus both kinds of flowers are cross-fertilized in an ingenious manner.

It is also remarkable that the pollen of the two flowers differs, the grains of that in the thrum-eyed flower being markedly larger, to allow it to fall on the long stigmas of the pin-eyed flowers and to put out long tubes to reach to the ovary-sac far below, whereas the smaller pollen destined for the shorter stigmas has only to send out a comparatively short tube to reach the seeds waiting to be fertilized. This diversity of structure ensures cross-fertilization only by such long-tongued insects as bees and moths.

A pink-flowered Primrose occurs naturally in some woods

In more populated areas it has suffered from over-collection and theft so that few natural

displays of primroses in abundance can be found. Picking of primroses or the removal of

primrose plants from the wild without the permission of the owner of the land on which

they are growing is now illegal in the UK (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Section 13,

part 1b).

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Cowslip

Cowslip
(Primula veris)

Widespread in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The cowslip is a native, perennial cousin of the primrose and is also an early spring flower. Formerly a common plant of traditional hay meadows, ancient woodlands and hedgerows, the loss of these habitats has caused a serious decline in its populations and now fields coloured bright yellow with its nodding heads, a nostalgic symbol of the once flower-rich pastures of rural England, are a rare sight. The cowslip is frequently found on more open ground than the primrose, including open fields, meadows, open woods, coastal dunes and cliff tops, and roadsides. They tend to favour rank grasses and scrub rather than amongst spring grazing livestock.

Its cultural history suggests that it was once as common as the Buttercup in Britain, however, it suffered a decline between 1930 and 1980, mainly due to the loss of the grasslands where it grows. It's dramatic decline in the 1950s was due to the relentless advance of modern farming, particularly the ploughing of old grassland and the extension of the use of chemical herbicides. It may therefore be rare locally, though where found it may be abundant. Fortunately, it is now showing signs of recovery and has begun to return to unsprayed verges and village greens as well as colonising the banks of new roads. Additionally the seeds are now often included in wildflower seed mixes used to landscape motorway banks and similar civil engineering earthworks where the plants may be seen in dense stands. This practice has led to a revival in its fortunes.

The cowslip is a variable evergreen perennial plant growing to 25 cm tall and broad, with a rosette of dark green, crinkly, tongue-like leaves 5–15 cm long and 2–6 cm broad but narrow towards the end, low to the ground in a basal rosette formation. The leaf edges are toothed, and a light cream-green vein can clearly be seen in the centre of the leaf and without the flower are very hard to distinguish from other primulas.

The deeply trumpet shaped, egg-yolk yellow flowers are produced in April to June. Unlike the Primrose, Cowslips have many flowers on one stem, in clusters, all facing to one side, of 10–30 blooms together on a single upright, green stem. Each flower is 9–15 mm broad and have five petals with small indents on the top edge of each petal. The flowers are enclosed by a long, green, tube-shaped calyx (protective flower casing).

They share their family's tendency to produce a profusion of variations including the variety known to gardeners as 'Devon Red' and orange-flowered forms which occur rarely but can be locally widespread in areas where coloured primula hybrids bloom at the same time as the native cowslip, enabling cross-pollination.

This species frequently hybridizes with other Primulas such as the common primrose Primula vulgaris to form False oxlip (Primula veris x vulgaris), which is a hybrid of cowslip and primrose so might be confused with those species. However, it is taller than cowslip and its flower clusters are not one-sided unlike the oxlip or cowslip. False oxlip is often confused with true oxlip (Primula elatior), which, though similar looking, has paler yellow flowers that open out further, and a corolla tube without folds. Leaves are also very similar in shape but stop sharply by the base and don’t taper. Oxlips are also a much rarer plant, being found only in East Anglia.

Cowslips are important for wildlife, their flowers an early source of nectar for various insects including bees, beetles and butterflies such as the brimstone. Cowslip is also a food plant for the Duke of Burgundy butterfly.

Shepherds Purse

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Shepherds Purse
(Capsella bursa-pastoris)

Kingdom Plantae – Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons

Subclass Dilleniidae –

Order Capparales –

Family Brassicaceae – Mustard or Cabbage family

Genus Capsella Medik. – capsella

Species Capsella bursa-pastoris (L.) Medik. – shepherd's purse

The genus Capsella belongs to the Mustard or Cabbage family Brassicaceae. The most common species is Shepherd's Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris). This hardy annual is of European origin but is now naturalized around the world except in tropical climates. The heart-shaped fruits of this plant resemble the purses that people used to hang from their belts in the Middle Ages, hence the name. Synonyms and Common names: Witch’s pouches, pickpocket, shepherd’s bag, shepherd’s scrip, shepherd’s sprout, shepherd’s heart, lady’s purse, rattle pouches, case-weed, blindweed, poor man’s parmacettie, pepper and salt, mother’s heart, cocowort, toywort, St. James’ weed.

French = bourse de pasteur, German = hirtentasche or hirtenfaschel, Spanish = Borsa de Pastor,

Italian = Borsa di pastore, Irish = clappedepouch.

Shepherds purse is an annual with erect stems that grow 3 - 18 inches tall from a basal rosette.

The slender stem, which rises from the crown of the root, from the centre of the rosette of radial

leaves, is usually sparingly branched. The plant is green. A rosette of basal leaves grows first in

spring, followed by the stem which is smooth, except at the lower part, with some what rough with hairs, and bears a few, small, oblong leaves, arrow-shaped at the base, from which arises a basal rosette quite similar to that of a dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). The rosette generally grows to be 4" to 8" in diameter, and these are long, tapering, pinnately compound, lobed to entire and narrowing towards the stalk. The basal leaves are stalked, and the first leaves are usually rounded, while the later leaves are usually deeply toothed but may be rather variable. Smaller, slightly toothed, alternate leaves clasp the flowerstalk. The stem leaves have no petioles and are enclosing and glabrous. The main stem is erect, the others ascending and terminating in racemes of tiny bisexual white cruciferous flowers, 2-3mm in diameter. The main leaves, 2 to 6 inches long, are very variable in form, either irregularly pinnatifid or entire and toothed. When not in flower, it may be distinguished by its radiating leaves, of which the outer lie close to the earth. Shepherd's purse has a slender, flexible, slightly hairy, white taproot which may be branched with secondary fibrous root system.

A common weed in gardens and fields, it also grows on waste ground and in hedgerows. Shepherd's purse does its best in sunny, moist to dry, rich, disturbed soil, but it will also grow in partly shaded, extremely poor soils. One of the reasons for this is that the plant has sticky seeds, to which tiny insects get stuck, providing the seedling with extra food.

The odour of the plant is peculiar and rather unpleasant, though more cress-like than pungent. It has an aromatic and biting taste, but is less acrid than most of the Cruciferae, and was formerly used as a pot-herb, the young radical leaves being sold in some places as greens in the spring. It causes taint of milk when freely eaten by dairy cattle.

Shepherd's purse can be found in flower from early spring through early winter. The small,

numerous, inconspicuous white flowers appear in clusters at the end of long racemes (flowers

arranged along a stem on individual stalks). The flowers are only about 2-3 mm across. Like all

Brassicaceae flowers, they are radially symmetrical with four petals which form a cross and 6

stamens with yellow anthers. The flowers are self fertilizing. As the first flowers are maturing, the stalk continues to grow and produce new flowers. The calyx consists of four oval, bowl-shaped, open green sepals; the corolla comprises four oblong white petals, twice as long as the calyx; sometimes it is stunted or undeveloped.

Each flower develops into a flattened, heart-shaped, two-celled seedpod, about 5 mm long,

containing a number of tiny, oblong, grooved, red/brown seeds divided by narrow partitions into two cells. It is attached to the stalk by its pointed end, projecting erect. When ripe, the pod dries, it splits in half, releasing the mature seeds. A single plant may produce over 1,000 long-lived seeds. The plants die soon after fruiting.

When moistened, the seeds of this plant release an adhesive compound to which small aquatic animals stick and eventually die. The rotting remains of these bugs may serve as a fertilizer for the germinating seed. This effect is so strong that people have tried scattering them in lakes as mosquito control methods, and makes it a borderline carnivorous plant. Although striking, it is not clear if this really means the plant is carnivorous. There are a few problems with this hypothesis; in particular, this plant does not grow in particularly wet areas, so why should its seed have a carnivorous technique that it cannot exploit? It is more probable that the seed's mucous has other valuable properties we have not yet figured out. The seeds, aside from sticking to insects, are also reported to be toxic to mosquito larvae, and, when put in the water, may possibly help control mosquitos. Shepherd's purse will also absorb excessive salts from the soil, and may be planted for that purpose. Seeds germinate early spring, summer, and early autumn. Cotyledons are egg shaped with taper at petiole. The hypocotyl (stem below cotyledons) typically has purple colouring.

Feeding and other inter-species relationships Associated with Capsella bursa-pastoris:

A variety of birds, including grouse and goldfinches, eat the seeds. Chickens will apparently eat the whole plant. Dairy cattle will also eat it, and this may affect the flavor of the milk. When poultry have fed freely on the green plant in the early spring, it has been noticed that the egg yolks become dark in colour, a greenish brown or olive colour, and stronger in flavour. Small birds are fond of the seeds of Shepherd's Purse: chaffinches and other wild birds may often be observed feeding on them, and they form valuable food for all caged birds.

is a foodplant of larva Ceutorhynchus erysimi - a weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Bullock, J.A., 1992
leaf-mine (end of) may house puparium Chromatomyia horticola - a leaf-mining fly (Diptera: Agromyzidae) Spencer, K.A., 1972
leaf is mined by larva Chromatomyia horticola - a leaf-mining fly (Diptera: Agromyzidae) Spencer, K.A., 1972 [mine linear, whitish, both upper and lower surface]
stem is galled by Albugo candida - an oomycete fungus (Peronosporales) Stubbs, F.B. (Editor), 1986

Parasites:

White rust Albugo candida

Bluebell

Photo Album on Flickr

Bluebell
(Hyacinthoides
nonscriptus)

Bluebells are unmistakable bell-shaped perennial

flowers, native to western Europe with the UK being

a species stronghold. They're associated with

ancient woodland and are often used in

combination with other species as a clue that a

wood is ancient. They reach their greatest densities

in the UK’s woods where millions of bulbs may exist

in one bluebell wood, emerging, often in droves, to

flower from April onwards, causing the incredible

blue carpets we so keenly associate with spring.

The UK's woodlands are home to almost 50% of

the world's population of the bluebell. They also grow along hedgerows and in fields.

The bluebell spends most of the year as bulbs underground in ancient woodland, only emerging to flower and leaf from April onwards. This early flowering allows it to make the most of the sunlight that is still able to make it to the forest floor habitat, before the canopy becomes too dense. This species is a slow grower, taking at least five years for a seed to develop into a bulb. Bluebells can reproduce sexually by seed or asexually by natural vegetative propagation, and new plants are sometimes able to split off from these bulbs and grow as clones.

The leaves: are narrow, around 7mm to 15mm wide and 45cm in length. They are strap-shaped, smooth and hairless, with a pointed tip.

The flowers are usually deep violet-blue in colour, bluebells are narrow, tubular bell-shaped with six petals and up-turned tips that curl back. These sweet-smelling flowers grow on one side of the flowering stem (known as an inflorescence), causing it to droop and have creamy white-coloured pollen inside. Some bluebell

flowers can range from white (quite common), through to grey, pale blue, lilac to dark cobalt. There is also a variegated form with flowers that look as though they are white-bells dipped in blue water-colour paint. Up to 20 flowers can grow on one inflorescence.

Many insects reap the benefits of bluebells which flower earlier than many other plants. The Bluebell attracts the attention of

plenty of pollinating insects. Woodland butterflies, bees and hoverflies all feed on their nectar. Some bees can ‘steal’ the nectar from bluebells by biting a hole in the bottom of the flower, reaching the nectar without the need to pollinate the flower

Not to be confused with: Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica), which is very similar in

appearance to the British bluebell. At a glance, native and Spanish bluebells can easily be

dismissed as being the same, but a closer look reveals some easy to spot differences that will let

you distinguish between the two easily. Spanish bluebells have broader leaves, upto 3cm, and grow

upright, with the pale blue flowers all around the stem, not drooping to one side like the British

bluebell, and no scent with blue or pale green pollen inside. Hybrid bluebell (Hyacinthoides x

massartiana) is a mix of the British and Spanish bluebell. It is often very similar in appearance to our

native bluebell, but might threaten its existence by diluting the gene pool. It is more vigorous than

our native bluebell, so can outcompete it for resources like light and space. It can hybridise with our

native, too, producing fertile plants that show a whole range of mixed features from both species.

Over time, this hybridisation changes the genetic makeup of our native species, diluting its

characteristics, weakening it and potentially evolving it into something else.

It is now thought that most bluebells in urban areas are actually hybrids. A study by Plantlife has

also found that one in six broadleaved woodlands contained hybrids or the Spanish bluebell.

The Spanish bluebell, Hyacinthoides hispanica, was introduced into the UK by the Victorians as a

garden plant, but escaped into the wild – it was first noted as growing ‘over the garden wall’ in 1909.

It is likely that this escape occurred from both the carefree disposal of bulbs as well as pollination.

Today, the Spanish bluebell can be found alongside our native bluebell in woodlands and along woodland edges, as well as on roadsides and in gardens.

While the bluebell is still common throughout Britain, this much-loved plant is under threat locally from habitat destruction, hybridisation with non-native bluebells and the illegal trade of wild-collected bulbs. Bluebells can take years to recover from the damage caused by trampling, and if their leaves are crushed they can be weakened (as they can no longer photosynthesise).

The bluebell is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). This means digging up the plant or bulb in the countryside is prohibited and landowners are prohibited from removing bluebells from their land to sell. The species was also listed on Schedule 8 of the Act in 1998, which makes

trading in wild bluebell bulbs and seeds an offence. This legislation was designed to protect bluebell from unscrupulous bulb collectors who supply garden centres.

Snowdrop

WILD FLOWER FINDER

Snowdrop
(Galanthus nivalis)

Snowdrops are a very well known representative

of a small genus of about 20 species in the family

Amaryllidaceae (Daffodil) and welcome first flower

of the year. Snowdrops should not be confused

with their relatives snowflakes, Leucojum species;

leucojums are much larger and flower in spring (or

early summer, depending on the species), with all

six petals in the flower the same size, though it

should be noted that some "poculiform" (slipper-

shaped) Galanthus can have inner segments similar in length to the outer ones.

Amaryllidaceae has been recognized, with varying

circumscriptions, by most classification systems of

the 20th Century, although the Cronquist system

included it within a very broadly defined Liliaceae. The two families have traditionally been separated by including species with inferior ovaries in Amaryllidaceae and those with superior ovaries in Liliaceae. The APG II system (2003) includes Amaryllidaceae in Alliaceae but allows for its optional recognition, in the order Asparagales, in the monocots clade.

Description

All species of Galanthus have bulbs, linear leaves, and erect flowering stalks bearing at the top a solitary pendulous drop or bell-shaped flower. Galanthus nivalis grows 15 cm tall, flowering in January or February in the northern temperate zone. The white flower has six petals, the outer three segments being larger and more convex than the inner series. The six anthers open by pores or short slits. The ovary is three-celled, ripening into a three- celled capsule.

G. nivalis usually has a single heart-shaped green blotch on each of its three inner petals, as opposed to two blotches on G. elwesii which is also larger. Another distinction is that the leaves of G. nivalis are narrower, and they are applanate (opposing, like praying hands) whereas G. elwesii has much wider, grey-green leaves which are convolute (one wraps around the other).

Snowdrops prefer shade, and so they rarely colonise meadows, preferring to cling to

the edges of fields and damp woods. The flowers close at night, and open in the morning to attract the early insects waking up after the cold winter days. Many garden varieties of Snowdrops have now become naturalised in the countryside.

Common snowdrop propagation is by offset bulbs, either by careful division of clumps in full growth ("in the green"), or removed when the plants are dormant, immediately after the leaves have withered; or by seeds sown either when ripe, or in spring. Professional growers and keen amateurs also use such methods as "twin-scaling" to increase the stock of choice cultivars quickly.

Double-flowered forms such as Galanthus nivalis f. pleniflorus 'Flore Pleno' may be less attractive to the eye of the purist. There are numerous cultivars, single and double, differing particularly in the size and markings of the flower, the period of flowering, and other characteristics of interest to many keen collectors known as "galanthophiles".

Single flowered cultivars

Galanthus nivalis Poculiformis Group - inner segments are almost same length and shape as outer ones, usually unmarked and without a "sinus" (notch); includes such cultivars as 'Sandhill Gate'

G. nivalis Sandersii Group - marks on inner segments are yellow instead of green; includes 'Sandersii' and 'Lutescens'

G. nivalis Scharlockii Group - "donkey's ears snowdrop" with elongated spathe split down centre, resembling upright ears

Double-flowered cultivars

G. nivalis f. pleniflorus 'Blewbury Tart' - curious, untidy, upward- or outward-facing flowers with dark green markings in the centre

G. nivalis f. pleniflorus 'Flore Pleno' - doubles, usually quite untidy rosettes of extra segments of uneven length

G. nivalis f. pleniflorus 'Lady Elphinstone' - a version of 'Flore Pleno' with yellowish colouring inside the flowers instead of green; may revert or vary from year to year

G. nivalis f. pleniflorus 'Pusey Green Tip' - with small green tips to the outer segments

Brambles

Brambles
(Rubus spp.)

Rubus is a genus of plant in the Family Rosaceae,

Subfamily Rosoideae. These plants have prickles

like roses and are often called brambles; this name

is most often used for the blackberry and similar

fruits that are also of rambling habit, and not used

for those like the raspberry that grow as upright

canes. Their fruit, called bramble fruit, is an

aggregate of drupelets.

Possibly as many as 387 subspecies of Rubus have

been described in Britain alone. this is caused by

the way that the brambles reproduce.

The genus Rubus is a very complex one, containing

13 subgenera, the largest of which, subgenus

Rubus, is further subdivided into 12 sections:

The brambles chief reproduction method is by

Apomixis, in which the plant forms fruit and seeds

without the need for fertilisation. Cross pollination

between individuals often fails completely or

produces malformed fruits in which only a few of

the seeds are fertile. This lack of cross pollination

creates a situation where each varied species enjoys almost genetic isolation from its neighbours. This genetic isolation is further increased by a vegetative form of reproduction by the stems bending down and where they touch the ground, root and start growing again. Thus creating the loops that trip so many people walking through them. In this way one plant can cover quite a large area with each offspring being a clone of the parent.

Unfortunatly the identification of the different species, Batology (from the greek Batos - meaning bramble) is not easy. With criteria such as leaf shape and colour, the shape, number and distribution of the spines on the stems and leaves, the colour of the stems and the presence or absence of glandular hairs. A problem with these characteristics, eg. stem colour, is influenced by environmental and habitat factors such as light and shade or even the age of the stem which can change in maturity.

Phylogeny of Rubus (rosaceae) based on nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region sequences

Subgenus Anoplobatus

Rubus odoratus
Rubus koehleri

Subgenus Chamaebatus

Rubus hayata-koidzumii

Subgenus Chamaemorus

Rubus chamaemorus
Rubus pseudochamaemorus

Subgenus Comaropsis

Rubus geoides

Subgenus Cyclactis

Rubus arcticus

Subgenus Diemenicus

Rubus gunnianus

Subgenus Dalibardastrum

Rubus amphidasys
Rubus nepalensis
Rubus tricolor
Rubus tsangiorum

Subgenus Idaeobatus

Rubus acuminatissimus
Rubus adenophorus
Rubus alexeterius
Rubus alpestris
Rubus amabilis
Rubus apetalus
Rubus archboldianus
Rubus aurantiacus
Rubus biflorus
Rubus chingii
Rubus cockburnianus
Rubus columellaris
Rubus copelandii
Rubus corchorifolius
Rubus coreanus
Rubus crataegifolius
Rubus croceacanthus
Rubus ellipticus
Rubus eustephanos
Rubus flosculosus
Rubus fraxinifolius
Rubus glabricarpus
Rubus grayanus
Rubus hawaiensis
Rubus hirsutus
Rubus hoffmeisterianus
Rubus hypargyrus
Rubus idaeus
Rubus illecebrosus
Rubus innominatus
Rubus inopertus
Rubus irritans
Rubus komarovii
Rubus lasiostylus
Rubus leucodermis
Rubus ludwigii
Rubus lutescens
Rubus macilentus
Rubus macraei
Rubus mesogaeus
Rubus microphyllus
Rubus minusculus
Rubus niveus
Rubus occidentalis
Rubus palmatus
Rubus parvifolius
Rubus peltatus
Rubus pentagonus
Rubus phoenicolasius
Rubus pileatus
Rubus pinfaensis
Rubus pinnatus
Rubus probus
Rubus pungens
Rubus racemosus
Rubus rigidus
Rubus rosifolius
Rubus sachalinensis
Rubus simplex
Rubus spectabilis
Rubus stans
Rubus strigosus
Rubus suavissimus
Rubus subornatus
Rubus sumatranus
Rubus teledapos
Rubus thibetanus
Rubus trianthus
Rubus trifidus
Rubus vernus

Subgenus Lampobatus

Rubus turquinensis
Rubus trichomallus
Rubus shankii
Rubus sapidus
Rubus roseus
Rubus peruvianus
Rubus nubigenus
Rubus megalococcus
Rubus macvaughianus
Rubus irasuensis
Rubus imperialis
Rubus hondurensis
Rubus glaucus
Rubus glabratus
Rubus giganteus
Rubus gachetensis
Rubus florulentus
Rubus fagifolius
Rubus eriocarpus
Rubus eggersii
Rubus costaricanus
Rubus coriaceus
Rubus acanthophyllos
Rubus choachiensis
Rubus bullatus
Rubus briareus
Rubus bogotensis
Rubus betonicifolius
Rubus adenotrichos
Rubus adenothallus

Subgenus Malachobatus

Rubus acuminatus
Rubus alceifolius
Rubus assamensis
Rubus bambusarum
Rubus buergeri
Rubus chroosepalus
Rubus chrysophyllus
Rubus elongatus
Rubus fairholmianus
Rubus flagelliflorus
Rubus fockei
Rubus formosensis
Rubus gardnerianus
Rubus glomeratus
Rubus henryi
Rubus hunanensis
Rubus ichangensis
Rubus irenaeus
Rubus kawakamii
Rubus lambertianus
Rubus lineatus
Rubus moluccanus
Rubus multibracteatus
Rubus paniculatus
Rubus parkeri
Rubus pseudosieboldii
Rubus pyrifolius
Rubus rolfei
Rubus rugosus
Rubus setchuenensis
Rubus sieboldii
Rubus splendidissimus
Rubus swinhoei
Rubus tephrodes
Rubus tiliaceus
Rubus wardii
Rubus xanthoneurus

Subgenus Micranthobatus

Rubus australis
Rubus cissoides
Rubus parvus
Rubus schmidelioides
Rubus squarrosus

Subgenus Orobatus

Rubus loxensis
Rubus saxatilis
Rubus fockeanus
Rubus humulifolius
Rubus lasiococcus
Rubus pedatus
Rubus xanthocarpus
Rubus calycinus
Rubus nivalis
Rubus pectinellus
Rubus parviflorus
Rubus aliceae
Rubus aboriginum
Rubus deliciosus
Rubus neomexicanus

Subgenus Rubus (syn. subgenus Eubatus)

Sections

Sect. Allegheniensis

Rubus allegheniensis
Rubus alumnus

Sect. Arguti

Rubus abactus
Rubus andrewsianus
Rubus argutus
Rubus frondosus
Rubus orarius
Rubus ostryifolius
Rubus pensilvanicus
Rubus recurvans

Sect. Caesii

Rubus caesius

Sect. Canadenses

Rubus canadensis
Rubus kennedyanus

Sect. Corylifolii

Rubus fioniae
Rubus tuberculatus
Rubus wahlbergii
Rubus fabrimontanus
Rubus dissimulans
Rubus dumetorum
Rubus gothicus
Rubus camptostachys
Rubus adenoleucus
Rubus aureolus
Rubus babingtonianus
Rubus britannicus
Rubus conjungens
Rubus cyclomorphus
Rubus eluxatus
Rubus lamprocaulos
Rubus mortensenii
Rubus nemorosus
Rubus seebergensis

Sect. Cuneifolii

Rubus cuneifolius

Sect. Flagellares

Rubus arundelanus

Sect. Hispidi

Rubus hispidus

Sect. Rubus (also known as Rubus fruticosus agg.)

Rubus bifrons
Rubus laciniatus
Rubus plicatus
Rubus nessensis
Rubus ulmifolius
Rubus adornatus
Rubus adspersus
Rubus ammobius
Rubus arrhenii
Rubus atrichantherus
Rubus axillaris
Rubus bavaricus
Rubus bertramii

Rubus braeuckeri
Rubus bregutiensis
Rubus canescens
Rubus cardiophyllus
Rubus chloocladus
Rubus chlorothyrsos
Rubus cimbricus
Rubus clusii
Rubus conothyrsoides
Rubus dasyphyllus
Rubus divaricatus
Rubus drejeri
Rubus egregius
Rubus foliosus
Rubus fuscus
Rubus gelertii
Rubus glandithyrsos
Rubus godronii
Rubus grabowskii
Rubus gratus
Rubus gremlii
Rubus hirtus
Rubus infestus
Rubus insularis
Rubus macrophyllus
Rubus micans
Rubus montanus
Rubus mucronulatus
Rubus pedemontanus
Rubus polyanthemus
Rubus praecox
Rubus pyramidalis
Rubus radula
Rubus rhamnifolius
Rubus rhombifolius
Rubus rosaceus
Rubus rudis
Rubus schlechtendalii
Rubus schleicheri
Rubus senticosus
Rubus slesvicensis
Rubus sprengelii
Rubus sulcatus
Rubus vestitus
Rubus vigorosus
Rubus vulgaris
Rubus acheruntinus
Rubus ahenifolius
Rubus alterniflorus
Rubus amplificatus
Rubus anglocandicans
Rubus angustifrons
Rubus bakerianus
Rubus bayeri
Rubus bloxamianus
Rubus bloxamii
Rubus bollei
Rubus boraeanus
Rubus calvatus
Rubus caucasicus
Rubus chrysoxylon
Rubus cissburiensis
Rubus colemannii
Rubus concolor
Rubus cordifolius
Rubus cyri
Rubus discolor
Rubus diversus
Rubus dumnoniensis
Rubus echinatoides
Rubus echinatus
Rubus errabundus
Rubus erythrops
Rubus fissus
Rubus formidabilis
Rubus furvicolor
Rubus fuscoater
Rubus ieri
Rubus georgicus
Rubus glanduliger
Rubus glandulosus
Rubus hartmanii
Rubus hylophilus
Rubus inermis
Rubus lamprophyllus
Rubus lespinassei
Rubus leucostachys
Rubus ergii
Rubus eianus
Rubus linkianus
Rubus miszczenkoi
Rubus moschus
Rubus mulleri
Rubus nitidioides
Rubus pedatifolius
Rubus piceetorum
Rubus promachonicus
Rubus rubritinctus
Rubus sanctus
Rubus scheutzii
Rubus separinus
Rubus septentrionalis
Rubus thyrsiflorus

Sect. Setosi

Rubus glandicaulis
Rubus missouricus
Rubus notatus
Rubus semisetosus
Rubus setosus
Rubus stipulatus
Rubus vermontanus

Sect. Ursini

Rubus loganobaccus
Rubus ursinus

Sect. Verotriviales

Rubus lucidus
Rubus riograndis
Rubus trivialis
Rubus biformispinus
Rubus deamii
Rubus enslenii
Rubus flagellaris
Rubus pennus

Butterbur (Petasites hybridus)

Common Chickweed (Stellaria media)

Coltsfoot (Tussilago fargara)

Groundsel (Senecio vulgaris)

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale agg.)

Dogs Mercury (Mecurialis perennis)

Honesty (Lunaria annua)

Lesser Celandine (Ficaria Verna) Synonym; Ranunculus ficaria

Celandine (Chelidonium majus)

Welsh Poppy (Papaver cambricum)

Periwinkle (Vinca major, Vinca minor)

Primrose (Primula vulgaris)

Cowslip (Primula veris)

Shepherds Purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris)

Bluebell (Hyacinthoides nonscriptus)

Snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis)

Brambles (Rubus spp.)

Common Chickweed
(Stellaria media)

Coltsfoot
(Tussilago fargara)

Groundsel
(Senecio vulgaris)

Dandelion
(Taraxacum officinale agg.)

Dogs Mercury
(Mecurialis perennis)

Honesty
(Lunaria annua)

Lesser Celandine
(Ficaria Verna)
Synonym;
Ranunculus ficaria

Celandine
(Chelidonium majus)

Welsh Poppy
(Papaver cambricum)

Periwinkle
(Vinca major, Vinca minor)

Primrose
(Primula vulgaris)

Cowslip
(Primula veris)

Shepherds Purse
(Capsella bursa-pastoris)

Bluebell
(Hyacinthoides
nonscriptus)

Snowdrop
(Galanthus nivalis)

Brambles
(Rubus spp.)